A Trip To The Past Sea Of Monsters
by NicoDiAngeloLover7
Summary: The Gods, Percy, Nico, Annabeth, Thalia, Travis, and Connor Stoll are now reading the Sea Of Monsters. Don't like don't read. Please do remember to inform me, if there's something wrong or you don't understand. Slight Travis/Katie. Percy/Nico
1. Chapter 1

******Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians and I probably never will.**

* * *

**"My Best Friend Shops for a Wedding Dress." **Aphrodite read.

"Oh, Nico! I didn't know you were getting married!" Thalia snickered.

"Is it to Percy?" Annabeth joined in.

Percy's eyes widened and spit his hot chocolate on Connor, who began yelling "HOT! HOT! HOT!" and shaking his head like a dog.

"Sorry, Connor!"

"W-what?" Nico spluttered as everyone began laughing.

"No uh… I'm talking about my other best friend," Percy said sheepishly.

"Um… Thalia?" Nico guessed uncertainly, earning a very painful punch on the shoulder.

"No, it was Grover!" Percy rolled his eyes, making everyone burst out in laughter.

"I can't even imagine him wearing a dress…" Aphrodite winced.

**My nightmare started like this.**

**I was standing on a deserted street in some little beach town. It was the middle of the night. A storm was blowing. Wind and rain ripped at the palm trees along the sidewalk. Pink and yellow stucco buildings lined the street, their windows boarded up. A block away, past a line of hibiscus bushes, the ocean churned.**

**Florida,I thought. Though I wasn't sure how I knew that. I'd never been to Florida.**

"Florida is a nice place," Apollo randomly said. "Very hot there."

**Then I heard hooves clattering against the pavement. I turned and saw my friend Grover running for his life.**

**Yeah, I said hooves.**

**Grover is a satyr. From the waist up, he looks like a typical gangly teenager with a peach-fuzz goatee and a bad case of acne.**

"Grover wouldn't like that description," Thalia snickered.

"Someone needs to give him a touchup," Aphrodite added.

**He walks with a strange limp, but unless you happen to catch him without his pants on (which I don't recommend),**

"I will never get the horrible vision out of my head," Percy said with his mouth full.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Demeter and Hera scolded.

**you'd never know there was anything un-human about him. Baggy jeans and fake feet hide the fact that he's got furry hindquarters and hooves.**

**Grover had been my best friend in sixth grade. He'd gone on this adventure with me and a girl named Annabeth to save the world, but I hadn't seen him since last July, when he set off alone on a dangerous quest—a quest no satyr had ever returned from.**

"But Grover did," Percy muttered to Annabeth, Nico and Thalia.

**Anyway, in my dream, Grover was hauling goat tail, holding his human shoes in his hands the way he does when he needs to move fast. He clopped past the little tourist shops and surfboard rental places. The wind bent the palm trees almost to the ground.**

**Grover was terrified of something behind him. He must've just come from the beach. Wet sand was caked in his fur. He'd escaped from somewhere. He was trying to get away from ... something.**

"I hope the other books start out a little slower." Poseidon muttered. "At least it's not you in immediate danger."

**A bone-rattling growl cut through the storm. Behind Grover, at the far end of the block, a shadowy figure loomed. It swatted aside a street lamp, which burst in a shower of sparks.**

**Grover stumbled, whimpering in fear. He muttered to himself, Have to get away. Have to warn them!**

"Who is he running away from?" Nico asked.

"Does it look like we know?" Percy said.

"We do know!" Annabeth sighed.

"Oh… Oops, I'm used not used to knowing." Percy sheepishly said.

"You got that right," Thalia joked.

**I couldn't see what was chasing him, but I could hear it muttering and cursing. The ground shook as it got closer. Grover dashed around a street corner and faltered. He'd run into a dead-end courtyard full of shops. No time to back up. The nearest door had been blown open by the storm. The sign above the darkened display window read: ST. AUGUSTINE BRIDAL BOUTIQUE.**

**Grover dashed inside. He dove behind a rack of wedding dresses.**

**The monster's shadow passed in front of the shop. I could smell the thing—a sickening combination of wet sheep wool and rotten meat and that weird sour body odor only monsters can have, like a skunk that's been living off Mexican food.**

"Lovely description, Perce," Nico said as the room collectively wrinkled their noses.

**Grover trembled behind the wedding dresses. The monster's shadow passed on.**

**Silence except for the rain. Grover took a deep breath. Maybe the thing was gone.**

**Then lightning flashed. The entire front of the store exploded, and a monstrous voice bellowed: "MIIIIINE!"**

**I sat bolt upright, shivering in my bed.**

"I hate dreams like that," Connor and Traivs said in unison. Percy and the other demigods nodded their heads in agreement.

**There was no storm. No monster.**

**Morning sunlight filtered through my bedroom window.**

**I thought I saw a shadow flicker across the glass—a humanlike shape.**

Percy looked at Annabeth knowingly.

Everyone looked at Nico, except Percy, Annabeth and Thalia. Who then said, "Don' look at me, I'm not in this book"

"What was that, a monster?" Connor asked.

Annabeth glared at him. "You're a monster,"

"It was Nobody," Percy said holding back a smile.

**But then there was a knock on my bed room door—my mom called: "Percy, you're going to be late."—and the shadow at the window disappeared.**

**It must've been my imagination. A fifth-story window with a rickety old fire escape ... there couldn't have been anyone out there.**

"That attitude is what gets everyone killed," Thalia said. "Being a half-blood means being paranoid all day."

"Yes Mom. Thanks for the useful information!" Percy rolled his eyes.

Thalia glared at Percy intently than punched him as hard as she could on the shoulder.

"That didn't hurt at all," Percy laughed at Thalia cradled her hands gently, wincing slightly from the pain. Nico chuckled at that, know why it hurt.

**"Come on, dear," my mother called again. "Last day of school. You should be excited! You've almost made it!"**

"That's pretty sad…" Hera snorted.

"Not really," Percy pouted. "That's a really big accomplishment!"

"I usually don't even last 8 months," Connor smiled like it was a good thing, which it probably was for him.

**"Coming," I managed.**

**I felt under my pillow. My fingers closed reassuringly around the ballpoint pen I always slept with.**

Thalia snickered with the Stolls. "Cause everyone sleeps with a ballpoint pen."

**brought it out, studied the Ancient Greek writing engraved on the side: Anaklusmos. Riptide.**

**I thought about uncapping it, but something held me back. I hadn't used Riptide for so long….**

"So you're out of practice. Well this book's starting out just wonderfully!" Poseidon groaned.

**Besides, my mom had made me promise not to use deadly weapons in the apartment after I'd swung a javelin the wrong way and taken out her china cabinet.**

Most people tried not to snicker at this but Percy still glared at them.

"It wasn't really my fault!"

"Yes it was."

**I put Anaklusmos on my nightstand and dragged myself out of bed.**

**I got dressed as quickly as I could. I tried not to think about my nightmare or monsters or the shadow at my window.**

**Have to get away. Have to warn them!**

**What had Grover meant?**

"Well, obviously, he's in danger and needs to warn somebody." Travis said helpfully.

"And you have the empathy link with him, so you're easiest to contact," Annabeth added.

**I made a three-fingered claw over my heart and pushed outward—an ancient gesture Grover had once taught me for warding off evil.**

**The dream couldn't have been real.**

"I bet you that if Grover was here, he would be yelling at you about how you were just relaxing while he was in trouble…" Thalia said.

"I wasn't really relaxing though…" Percy said. "Well, I won't be relaxing soon."

**Last day of school. My mom was right, I should have been excited. For the first time in my life, I'd almost made it an entire year without getting expelled. No weird accidents. No fights in the classroom. No teachers turning into monsters and trying to kill me with poisoned cafeteria food or exploding homework.**

"I wish my homework exploded so I wouldn't have to do it…" Nico pouted.

"How dare you say that!" Athena and Annabeth said together.

"Uh… sorry?" Nico said it more like a question and he didn't sound very sorry.

"What homework?" Thalia snorted. "Last time I checked, you were switching off between the underworld and camp. Where was school in the midst of this?"

"Um," Nico said. "I mean, I wish my homework had exploded so I wouldn't have had to do it?"

Percy just shook his head at his boyfriend, "Sorry, dude."

**Tomorrow, I'd be on my way to my favorite place in the world—Camp Half-Blood.**

**Only one more day to go. Surely even I couldn't mess that up.**

"And clearly you still find somehow to mess it up," Thalia stated while chuckling.

**As usual, I didn't have a clue how wrong I was.**

Everyone laughed.

**My mom made blue waffles and blue eggs for breakfast. She's funny that way, celebrating special occasions with blue food. I think it's her way of saying anything is possible. Percy can pass seventh grade. Waffles can be blue. Little miracles like that.**

**I ate at the kitchen table while my mom washed dishes. She was dressed in her work uniform—a starry blue skirt and a red-and-white striped blouse she wore to sell candy at Sweet on America. Her long brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail.**

**The waffles tasted great, but I guess I wasn't digging in like I usually did. My mom looked over and frowned. "Percy, are you all right?"**

**"Yeah ... fine."**

**But she could always tell when something was bothering me. She dried her hands and sat down across from me. "School, or ..."**

**She didn't need to finish. I knew what she was asking.**

**"I think Grover's in trouble," I said, and I told her about my dream.**

**She pursed her lips. We didn't talk much about the otherpart of my life. We tried to live as normally as possible, but my mom knew all about Grover.**

**"I wouldn't be too worried, dear," she said. "Grover is a big satyr now. If there were a problem, I'm sure we would've heard from ... from camp..." Her shoulders tensed as she said the word camp.**

"What's wrong at camp now?" Athena sighed.

"Someone's very perceptive," Percy noted.

"She's the goddess of wisdom, and plus, it doesn't take a genius to figure that out, just someone with more than 5 IQ points." Artemis said. "Did you figure it out, Apollo?"

"Uh… Duh!" Apollo looked everywhere except Artemis.

**"What is it?" I asked.**

**"Nothing," she said. "I'll tell you what. This afternoon we'll celebrate the end of school. I'll take you and Tyson to Rockefeller Center—to that skateboard shop you like."**

**Oh, man, that was tempting. We were always struggling with money. Between my mom's night classes and my private school tuition, we could never afford to do special stuff like shop for a skateboard. But something in her voice bothered me.**

**"Wait a minute," I said. "I thought we were packing me up for camp tonight."**

**She twisted her dishrag. "Ah, dear, about that ... I got a message from Chiron last night."**

**My heart sank. Chiron was the activities director at Camp Half-Blood. He wouldn't contact us unless some thing serious was going on. "What did he say?"**

**"He thinks ... it might not be safe for you to come to camp just yet. We might have to postpone."**

**"Postpone?Mom, how could it not be safe? I'm a half-blood! It's like the only safe place on earth for me!"**

**"Usually, dear. But with the problems they're having—"**

"Problems as in–" Thalia said.

"Yeah, that." Percy interrupted.

"What problems?" Athena blurted out.

Demeter snickered. "Funny how that's the next line of the book."

"Athena, we can't tell you yet." Percy said as Athena glared at him.

**"What problems?"**

**"Percy ... I'm very, very sorry. I was hoping to talk to you about it this afternoon. I can't explain it all now. I'm not even sure Chiron can. Everything happened so suddenly."**

"Why can't people just give straight answers right away?" Hermes pouted.

"I know right?" Percy agreed.

**My mind was reeling. How could I not go to camp? I wanted to ask a million questions, but just then the kitchen clock chimed the half-hour.**

**My mom looked almost relieved. "Seven-thirty, dear. You should go. Tyson will be waiting."**

**"But—"**

**"Percy, we'll talk this afternoon. Go on to school."**

"Something tells me you're not going to get to have this afternoon chat," Apollo said.

"Good job, Apollo!" Hestia said encouragingly, causing the demigods and Hermes and Artemis to snicker.

**That was the last thing I wanted to do, but my mom had this fragile look in her eyes—a kind of warning, like if I pushed her too hard she'd start to cry.**

Artemis and Hera glanced at Percy. "Stop trying to make your mother cry!"

"I d-didn't mean too…" Percy bit his lip.

**Besides, she was right about my friend Tyson. I had to meet him at the subway station on time or he'd get upset. He was scared of traveling underground alone.**

"The dark can be scary sometimes," Apollo whispered.

"The night is beautiful," Artemis objected.

"Darkness is awesome…" Nico exclaimed excitedly with Hades agreeing.

"No, it's freaky!" Apollo pouted.

"Well, I guess that makes sense…" Annabeth said.

"That the dark can be scary?" Connor asked.

"No, why he's scared." Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Why?"

Percy sighed. "Even I know that! It's because he's the god of light and sun, the total opposite of darkness."

**I gathered up my stuff, but I stopped in the doorway. "Mom, this problem at camp. Does it... could it have anything to do with my dream about Grover?"**

**She wouldn't meet my eyes. "We'll talk this afternoon, dear. I'll explain ... as much as I can."**

**Reluctantly, I told her good-bye. I jogged downstairs to catch the Number Two train.**

**I didn't know it at the time, but my mom and I would never get to have our afternoon talk.**

"No, no, no!" Poseidon tried taking deep breathes. "Not again!"

"I think you should get over it or else you're going to say that a whole bunch of more times…" Ares suggested.

"Way to let him down easy!" Aphrodite whispered.

"Hey, that is 'letting him down easy' for me!" Ares said.

**In fact, I wouldn't be seeing home for a long, long time.**

**As I stepped outside, I glanced at the brownstone building across the street. Just for a second I saw a dark shape in the morning sunlight—a human silhouette against the brick wall, a shadow that belonged to no one.**

"Ahh, good memories," Percy smiled at Annabeth. Remembering the Sea Of Monsters.

"If they said Nobody, it would have made much more sense." Annabeth giggled.

"'A shadow that belonged to nobody'? How would that make more sense?" Nico asked confusedly.

"You'll see later on," Annabeth waved her hand dismissively.

"It's kind of an inside joke, but seeing as my life is an open book – literally – you'll probably understand by the end of this book." Percy said matter-of-factly.

"Oh my gods, that's so aggravating!" Hermes exclaimed. "Be straight forward, people!"

"Never!" Thalia smiled.

**Then it rippled and vanished.'**

"And that's the end of the chapter!" Aphrodite concluded. "Who wants to read next?"


	2. Chapter 2

"I'll read next," Dionysus said.

All the demigods gasped.

"Oh, my gods! Dionysus offered to read! Call 911, the world's going to crumble and our lives will end in devastation!" Connor exclaimed, running around.

"Someone get him to sit down!" Artemis demanded.

"I'll do it!" Thalia said before shocking Connor with her hand.

"Yowza, did the world end yet? Am I in the Underworld?" Connor asked dazily.

"I wish you were in the Underworld so there would be peace and quiet for once," Hephaestus grumbled.

"But then he would be bothering me!" Hades whined.

"Hey! That's my son you're talking about!" Hermes said.

"Precisely!" Hades and Hephaestus said causing Apollo to snicker and Hermes to pout.

"Shut up! Dionysus, start reading."

"B-but, Mr. D offered to read!" Connor repeated.

"Get over yourself, brat!" Dionysus rolled his eyes.

**"I Play Dodgeball with Cannibals," **Dionysus read.

**My day started normal. Or as normal as it ever gets at Meriwether College Prep.**

**See, it's this "progressive" school in downtown Manhattan, which means we sit on beanbag chairs instead of at desks, and we don't get grades, and the teachers wear jeans and rock concert T-shirts to work.**

"Man, that puts the 'cool' in school." Connor exclaimed.

"There's no cool in school," Percy said. "Is there?" he added, looking to Annabeth.

"Nope." Annabeth said laughing.

"You spell it like C-H-O-O-L though,"

"That's weird."

"I wouldn't mind going to a school like that!" Nico pouted.

**That's all cool with me. I mean, I'm ADHD and dyslexic, like most half-bloods, so I'd never done that great in regular schools even before they kicked me out. The only bad thing about Meriwether was that the teachers always looked on the bright side of things, and the kids weren't always ... well, bright.**

"You can have Apollo!" Hermes joked. "He'll bright up anyone's day."

"Literally," Nico snickered.

"That's right!" Apollo shouted excitedly.

"Too bad you can't give away family," Artemis sighed sadly. "No matter how much you want too."

"That's right!" Apollo repeated. "Wait… That's an insult."

No one bothered to say anything and risk hurting his ego anymore.

**Take my first class today: English. The whole middle school had read this book called Lord of the Flies,where all these kids get marooned on an island and go psycho.**

"Wow… That sounds like a pretty good book," Travis murmured.

"Yeah, a bunch of kids killing each other is awesome!" Percy said, with a hint of sarcasm.

"It's not that much different from us," Thalia noted.

"Well, I guess that's true…"

**So for our final exam, our teachers sent us into the break yard to spend an hour with no adult supervision to see what would happen. What happened was a massive wedgie contest between the seventh and eighth graders, two pebble fights, and a full-tackle basketball game.**

"I remember that," Percy said. "It was kind of...painful..."

"This thought is coming from the kid who is always on the brink of dying," Thalia laughed.

"That's not really reassuring!" Poseidon said frantically.

"Thanks for making my dad panic even more!" Percy told Thalia.

"Well, it is true..."

"Doesn't make it any easier," Poseidon said.

**The school bully, Matt Sloan, led most of those activities.**

**Sloan wasn't big or strong, but he acted like he was. He had eyes like a pit bull, and shaggy black hair, and he always dressed in expensive but sloppy clothes, like he wanted everybody to see how little he cared about his family's money. One of his front teeth was chipped from the time he'd taken his daddy's Porsche for a joyride and run into a PLEASE SLOW DOWN FOR CHILDREN sign.**

"Haha, he slows down by running into a slow down sign," Hermes snickered.

"Kind of ironic," Hestia said with a giggle.

**Anyway, Sloan was giving everybody wedgies until he made the mistake of trying it on my friend Tyson.**

"Tyson?" Poseidon asked. "Huh…"

"Yup, that's his name," Percy said with a smile at his dad.

**Tyson was the only homeless kid at Meriwether College Prep. As near as my mom and I could figure, he'd been abandoned by his parents when he was very young, probably because he was so ... different.**

Poseidon thought hard. Surely it couldn't be...

"That's so sad!" Hera said.

**He was six-foot-three and built like the Abominable Snowman, but he cried a lot and was scared of just about everything, including his own reflection.**

"That is just horrible," Apollo gasped. "If I couldn't look at my reflection, life would be so depressing."

"I know, right?!" Aphrodite cried.

Everyone just rolled their eyes.

"WAIT! That's got to be it!" Poseidon shouted in triumph. "Tyson the Cyclopes, my son."

As soon as he said that, the goddesses in the room looked at him accusingly.

"How could you treat your son like this?" Hera glared.

"ME? I'm not the one who pushed their son off of Olympus." Poseidon scoffed.

"You just had to include me in this, didn't you?" Hephaestus sighed.

"I pushed him off one time!" Hera yelled.

"Do you think I feel good about what happened to Tyson?" Poseidon said angrily.

"Man, I don't know what I would do without a family that pushes each other off huge cliffs." Thalia noted, while Hera and Poseidon continued to bicker.

"Don't forget grandpa and his dream to conquer the world!" Nico laughed.

"SHUT UP SO I CAN START READING!" Dionysus shouted so loudly that everyone stopped what they were doing. Poseidon, Hera and Zeus glared intently on Dionysus, making him squeak out "Please," afterwords.

**His face was kind of misshapen and brutal-looking. I couldn't tell you what color his eyes were,**

"Eye," Annabeth corrected under her breath and Poseidon cheerfully, yet worriedly said.

**because I could never make myself look higher than his crooked teeth. His voice was deep, but he talked funny, like a much younger kid—I guess because he'd never gone to school before coming to Meriwether. He wore tattered jeans, grimy size-twenty sneakers, and a plaid flannel shirt with holes in it. He smelled like a New York City alleyway, because that's where he lived, in a cardboard refrigerator box off 72nd Street.**

"No one like Tyson deserves a fate like that, no matter what he is," Percy said.

"Someone needs to change clothes…" Aphrodite murmured.

**Meriwether Prep had adopted him as a community service project so all the students could feel good about themselves. Unfortunately, most of them couldn't stand Tyson. Once they discovered he was a big softie, despite his massive strength and his scary looks, they made themselves feel good by picking on him. I was pretty much his only friend, which meant he was myonly friend.**

"Awww…" Aphrodite cooed.

"That warms my heart, Perseus." Hestia said.

"Are you sure it's not just your hearth?" Thalia said, making everyone laugh.

"You are so sweet!" Aphrodite squealed, as Percy blushed. "I hope everyone of my daughters gets to break the heart of someone just like you!"

"Funny," Percy said, "You said the exact same thing to me when I met you."

**My mom had complained to the school a million times that they weren't doing enough to help him. She'd called social services, but nothing ever seemed to happen. The social workers claimed Tyson didn't exist. They swore up and down that they'd visited the alley we described and couldn't find him, though how you miss a giant kid living in a refrigerator box, I don't know.**

"Sign number three that he's not normal," Nico said.

"What were the other signs?" Travis asked.

"One: 6 feet tall, but acted like a little kid. Two: Percy couldn't look him in the eye." Nico answered.

"I guess missing a kid in a box would be kind of hard…" Connor said.

"Connor? Do you remember the little thing we call mist?" Annabeth sighed.

"Oh, yeah!"

**Anyway, Matt Sloan snuck up behind him and tried to give him a wedgie, and Tyson panicked. He swatted Sloan away a little too hard. Sloan flew fifteen feet and got tangled in the little kids' tire swing.**

"Served him right," Percy muttered angrily.

"Go own his ass!" Ares hollered at the book.

"ARES! LANGUAGE! We have children here." Hera scolded.

"Like we actually care…" Thalia muttered.

"This is why I hate demigods!" Hera glared.

"Who said we liked you either?" Annabeth scoffed.

"You do know this is your chance to make up, right, so Hera's not angry at you?" Percy muttered to Annabeth.

"Amusing as this is, I'm going to start reading," Dionysus intervened.

**"You freak!" Sloan yelled. "Why don't you go back to your cardboard box!"**

"I don't like him." Thalia stated venomously.

No one said anything.

**Tyson started sobbing. He sat down on the jungle gym so hard he bent the bar, and buried his head in his hands.**

**"Take it back, Sloan!" I shouted.**

**Sloan just sneered at me. "Why do you even bother, Jackson? You might have friendsif you weren't always sticking up for that freak."**

"Percy does have friends!" Nico shouted to the book. "And Tyson is not a freak!"

**I balled my fists. I hoped my face wasn't as red as it felt. "He's not a freak.**

"Weird how Nico said that exact line…" Thalia said.

"I'm just cool like that," Nico smiled at Percy.

"That mean's I'm cool too!" Percy said.

"No one said you weren't cool," Annabeth laughed patting his shoulder.

"I say he's not cool!" Ares shouted.

"But you just said that he was cool last book…" Connor stated.

"Well I change my mind!" Ares glared.

"Okay." Connor squeaked. "I get it."

**He's just..."**

"A very nice Cyclops who happens to be living in a comfy cardboard box," Apollo interrupted.

"Exactly," everyone else laughed.

**I tried to think of the right thing to say, but Sloan wasn't listening. He and his big ugly friends were too busy laughing. I wondered if it were my imagination, or if Sloan had more goons hanging around him than usual. I was used to seeing him with two or three, but today he had like, half a dozen more, and I was pretty sure I'd never seen them before.**

"Well than, I think we can guess what is going to happen," Thalia rolled her eyes.

"Just wait till PE, Jackson," Sloan called. "You are so dead."

"That kid is going to be the dead one," Poseidon glared at the book.

**When first period ended, our English teacher, Mr. de Milo, came outside to inspect the carnage. He pronounced that we'd understood Lord of the Flies perfectly. We all passed his course, and we should never, never grow up to be violent people.**

"Too late!" Travis snickered. "Percy here, is already really violent."

Percy pouted. "It's not like I try to be,"

"I thought it was every kid's dream to wield a sword and kill monsters," Nico said dreamily.

"I think it's only your dream," Thalia said.

"Hold the chariot," Hades said. "You dreamed of wielding a sword and killing monsters when you were younger?"

"Yup, though I must say, it's not nearly as cool as I had hoped."

"At least your dream did come true," Percy said. "My dream can never come true."

"And what dream is that?" Poseidon asked, extremely curious.

"Well, let's just say it involved fluffy unicorns and multiple bottles of spray paint."

Everyone burst out laughing, but Dionysus read before anyone could ask any questions.

**Matt Sloan nodded earnestly, then gave me a chip-toothed grin.**

**I had to promise to buy Tyson an extra peanut butter sandwich at lunch to get him to stop sobbing.**

"Oh, a kid's gotta love his peanut butter," Travis said.

**"I ... I am a freak?" he asked me.**

**"No," I promised, gritting my teeth. "Matt Sloan is the freak."**

"Exactly!"

**Tyson sniffled. "You are a good friend. Miss you next year if ... if I can't ..."**

**His voice trembled. I realized he didn't know if he'd be invited back next year for the community service project. I wondered if the headmaster had even bothered talking to him about it.**

**"Don't worry, big guy," I managed. "Everything's going to be fine."**

**Tyson gave me such a grateful look I felt like a big liar. How could I promise a kid like him that anythingwould be fine?**

"That dude should just deal with it," Ares grumbled. "What a softie,"

"You deal with it!" Percy gritted his teeth.

Ares' eye twitched and he looked like he wanted to strangle Percy right there.

**Our next exam was science. Mrs. Tesla told us that we had to mix chemicals until we succeeded in making something explode, Tyson was my lab partner. His hands were way too big for the tiny vials we were supposed to use. He accidentally knocked a tray of chemicals off the counter and made an orange mushroom cloud in the trash can.**

"Dude, your school is awesome!" Connor and Travis exclaimed.

"I know," Percy grinned.

"I would go to that school if gods actually went to school." Apollo grinned.

**After Mrs. Tesla evacuated the lab and called the hazardous waste removal squad, she praised Tyson and me for being natural chemists. We were the first ones who'd ever aced her exam in under thirty seconds.**

Annabeth snorted. "Percy actually being praised for doing something wrong."

"Yeah, but the thing I was doing wrong was actually right." Percy beamed.

"What?" Ares asked with a confused face.

"Nevermind," Percy mumbled.

**I was glad the morning went fast, because it kept me from thinking too much about my problems. I couldn't stand the idea that something might be wrong at camp. Even worse, I couldn't shake the memory of my bad dream. I had a terrible feeling that Grover was in danger.**

"No really?" Thalia said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "What gave it away?"

**In social studies, while we were drawing latitude/longitude maps, I opened my notebook and stared at the photo inside—my friend Annabeth**

"She was my only link to the world that I had only learned a year ago that existed. Give me a break. Besides, what's not to like about Annabeth?"

"Her dagger." Travis, Nico, and Connor stated without hesitation.

**on vacation in Washington, D.C. She was wearing jeans and a denim jacket over her orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt. Her blond hair was pulled back in a bandanna. She was standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial with her arms crossed, looking extremely pleased with herself, like she'd personally designed the place.**

"I wish I designed that place!" Annabeth said.

"Of course you do," Travis said.

"But I don't understand why." Connor said. "You're the architect of Mount Olympus. Isn't that enough?"

Annabeth shook her head with a smile. "You don't understand. Only the gods and a few demigods get to see my work on Olympus. But I want to do something that all mortals and gods will be able to see! Something people travel from MILES around to see!"

Percy placed his hand on her mouth to silence her, so everyone wouldn't have to get a long, boring speech that would put them all to sleep.

"We want to get through this chapter before next year. Would you please read Mr. D?"

**See, Annabeth wants to be an architect when she grows up, so she's always visiting famous monuments and stuff. She's weird that way.**

"How's that weird?" Annabeth said, prying Percy's hand off her mouth.

"Let's face it, we're all weird," Connor sighed.

"Yeah, Kelp head can control water. What a weirdo," Thalia laughed.

"Pinecone face can control electricity. Such a weirdo." Percy laughed.

"My son isn't weird," Poseidon frowned.

"My daughter isn't weird," Zeus frowned.

**She'd e-mailed me the picture after spring break, and every once in a while I'd look at it just to remind myself she was real and Camp Half-Blood hadn't just been my imagination.**

**I wished Annabeth were here. She'd know what to make of my dream. I'd never admit it to her, but she was smarter than me,**

Nico put his hand on Percy's shoulder and teased. "Don't worry Perce, you eventually get smarter"

Thalia said "Good job Seaweed brain! You're learning!"

"No need to be mean, Thalia." Percy pouted.

"It feels good when you admit it, even though everyone already knew it was true," Annabeth smiled.

**even if she was annoying sometimes.**

"I'm annoying?" Annabeth huffed. "You're more annoying!"

"I didn't say I wasn't annoying." Percy said. "But you are annoying too."

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are!"

"No I'm not!"

Before anyone could say anything, Thalia said "Shut it and read!"

**I was about to close my notebook when Matt Sloan reached over and ripped the photo out of the rings.**

**"Hey!" I protested.**

**Sloan checked out the picture and his eyes got wide. "No way, Jackson. Who is that? She is not your—"**

**"Give it back!" My ears felt hot.**

"Yeah, give it back, you're making Percy blush!" Connor yelled.

Percy groaned. "Connor!"

"That's my name, don't wear it out!" Connor beamed.

**Sloan handed the photo to his ugly buddies, who snickered and started ripping it up to make spit wads. They were new kids who must've been visiting, because they were all wearing those stupid HI! MY NAME IS: tags from the admissions office. They must've had a weird sense of humor, too, because they'd all filled in strange names like: MARROW SUCKER, SKULL EATER, and JOE BOB. No human beings had names like that.**

"Que scary music," Hermes called.

A violin was heard and everyone turned toward the sound.

"Apollo, we didn't mean literally." Annabeth laughed.

"Aw, it puts a little pizzazz into the story!" Apollo whined.

"Pizzazz?" Connor asked, but everyone ignored him.

"Not them!" Athena, Nico, Poseidon and Zeus said together.

"Who?" Apollo and Hermes asked in unison.

"The Lastrygonians, that's who," Hestia said with a frown. "You really do have rotten luck, young Perseus."

**"These guys are moving here next year," Sloan bragged, like that was supposed to scare me. "I bet they can pay the tuition, too, unlike your retard friend."**

Thalia sprouted a bunch of profanities as Percy covered Nico's ears while Nico covered Percy's ears. Apollo plugged his ears and began singing the alphabet loudly. Some sat there staring in awe at Thalia's colorful vocabulary while others tried to make her stop.

"A-B-C-D-E-F-G –" Apollo sang.

"You can stop now!" Ares shouted in Apollo's face.

"What a very pretty and colorful vocabulary!" Travis exclaimed in a daze.

"Thalia Grace!" Artemis and Zeus both yelled.

"Father, I'm sorry for cursing in your home," She said with a slight smile stuck on her lips. "But I feel so much better now."

"You may be my faithful lieutenant, young Thalia," Artemis began sternly, causing Thalia's smile to vanish on the spot. "But I have never heard a young woman with such a mouth. And I never ever want to hear it again. Are we understood?"

"Yes, my Lady," Thalia replied softly, lowering her head.

"Mr. D? Could you keep reading, please?" Annabeth said, drawing her attention away from her friend.

**"He's not retarded." I had to try really, really hard not to punch Sloan in the face.**

**"You're such a loser, Jackson. Good thing I'm gonna put you out of your misery next period."**

**His huge buddies chewed up my photo. I wanted to pulverize them, but I was under strict orders from Chiron never to take my anger out on regular mortals, no matter how obnoxious they were. I had to save my fighting for monsters.**

"Someone should ban that rule!" Ares hollered as the demigods agreed.

**Still, part of me thought, if Sloan only knew who I really was …**

"Yeah, cause that's terrifying." Thalia and Nico said together.

"Well, actually..." Travis said.

"...If you think about it..." Connor continued and in synchronization, the brothers outstretched their arms with fists clenched.

"He's the son of Poseidon." The each put a finger out.

"He found and returned both Zeus' lightning bolt and Hades' helm of darkness." They put another one out.

"Traveled through the Sea of Monsters."

"Held up the world."

"Traveled through the labyrinth."

"Has a Hell Hound as a pet."

"Managed to blow up a volcano."

"Took a dip in the Styx."

"Led Camp Half-Blood in the battle..."

"To VICTORY!" They concluded together, throwing their hands up with all ten fingers out.

Thalia, Percy, Nico and Annabeth looked at each other sharing a single thought: Now they've done it.

The room was silent except for Dionysus who grew tired of waiting and decided to read.

**The bell rang.**

**As Tyson and I were leaving class, a girl's voice whispered, "Percy!"**

**I looked around the locker area, but nobody was paying me any attention. Like any girl at Meriwether would ever be caught dead calling my name.**

Annabeth looked at Percy knowingly.

"Who called your name?" Connor asked.

Percy just shrugged. "Nobody."

"Somebody called his name, though." Nico said scratching his head.

Thalia shook her head. "Nobody was on his fire escape. Nobody followed him to school. Nobody called Percy's name."

"I just don't get it."

**Before I had time to consider whether or not I'd been imagining things, a crowd of kids rushed for the gym, carrying Tyson and me along with them. It was time for PE. Our coach had promised us a free-for-all dodgeball game, and Matt Sloan had promised to kill me.**

"Promised to kill you?" Poseidon asked menacingly. While Nico was glaring at the book.

"A lot of people promise to kill me. They all failed." Percy laughed nonchalantly.

"You sure take this lightly," Zeus muttered.

"Well, when this happens daily, you get used to it," Percy said, leaving everyone in question.

**The gym uniform at Meriwether is sky blue shorts and tie-dyed T-shirts. Fortunately, we did most of our athletic stuff inside, so we didn't have to jog through Tribeca looking like a bunch of boot-camp hippie children.**

"Hippie children unite!" Connor and Travis laughed.

"That would be an awesome sight," Nico commented, stifling a laugh.

**I changed as quickly as I could in the locker room because I didn't want to deal with Sloan. I was about to leave when Tyson called, "Percy?"**

**He hadn't changed yet. He was standing by the weight room door, clutching his gym clothes. "Will you ... uh ..."**

**"Oh. Yeah." I tried not to sound aggravated about it. "Yeah, sure, man."**

**Tyson ducked inside the weight room. I stood guard outside the door while he changed. I felt kind of awkward doing this, but he asked me to most days. I think it's because he's completely hairy and he's got weird scars on his back that I've never had the courage to ask him about.**

"Poor kid," Aphrodite said.

"Poor Cyclopes," Hermes corrected.

"He's still a kid," Percy said.

**Anyway, I'd learned the hard way that if people teased Tyson while he was dressing out, he'd get upset and start ripping the doors off lockers.**

"That must have looked cool," Connor commented.

"Yeah, but it mainly just creeped people out," Percy sighed.

**When we got into the gym, Coach Nunley was sitting at his little desk reading Sports was about a million years old, with bifocals and no teeth and a greasy wave of gray hair. He reminded me of the Oracle at Camp Half-Blood—which was a shriveled-up mummy—except Coach Nunley moved a lot less and he never billowed green smoke.**

"I never thought a living thing could move less than a dead mummy," Artemis mused.

"I wasn't exaggerating," Percy laughed. "And I've seen the Oracle move."

"What?"

"Oh, I'm sure you'll hear about it eventually," Annabeth said. "You'll just have to wait a little longer. It wasn't this summer."

Well, at least not that I'd observed.

**Matt Sloan said, "Coach, can I be captain?"**

**"Eh?" Coach Nunley looked up from his magazine. "Yeah," he mumbled. "Mm-hmm."**

**Sloan grinned and took charge of the picking. He made me the other team's captain, but it didn't matter who I picked, because all the jocks and the popular kids moved over to Sloan's side. So did the big group of visitors.**

"That's not fair!" Connor protested.

"Who ever said stupid and idiotic mortals were fair?" Thalia grumbled, wanting to say more, but settled with using the words in her head instead of out loud.

**On my side I had Tyson, Corey Bailer the computer geek, Raj Mandali the calculus whiz, and a half dozen other kids who always got harassed by Sloan and his gang. Normally I would've been okay with just Tyson—he was worth half a team all by himself—but the visitors on Sloan's team were almost as tall and strong-looking as Tyson, and there were six of them.**

"And we still owned them all," Percy said proudly.

**Matt Sloan spilled a cage full of balls in the middle of the gym.**

**"Scared," Tyson mumbled. "Smell funny."**

"You should have figured it out," Nico said.

"Did you forget he's Percy Jackson?" Thalia laughed.

"Ha ha. Enough making fun of me. Do I need to get Travis and Connor to repeat their list?" Percy replied.

"NO!"

"alright then."

**I looked at him. "What smells funny?" Because I didn't figure he was talking about himself.**

**"Them." Tyson pointed at Sloan's new friends. "Smell funny."**

**The visitors were cracking their knuckles, eyeing us like it was slaughter time. I couldn't help wondering where they were from. Someplace where they fed kids raw meat and beat them with sticks.**

"I wonder if that place is called Tartarus," Travis piped up. The whole room seemed a smidge darker than usual.

"Best not to say that around here," Percy winced from the memories.

**Sloan blew the coach's whistle and the game began. Sloan's team ran for the center line. On my side, Raj Mandali yelled something in Urdu, probably "I have to go potty!" and ran for the exit. Corey Bailer tried to crawl behind the wall mat and hide. The rest of my team did their best to cower in fear and not look like targets.**

"What a bunch of cowards!" Ares screamed manically.

**"Tyson," I said. "Let's g—"**

**A ball slammed into my gut. I sat down hard in the middle of the gym floor. The other team exploded in laughter.**

**My eyesight was fuzzy. I felt like I'd just gotten the Heimlich maneuver from a gorilla. I couldn't believe anybody could throw that hard.**

"I'M GOING TO KILL THAT ASS!" Poseidon chuckled darkly. "Just you wait…"

"That is scary." Percy said. "But dad, I took care of them."

Poseidon sighed. "As long as somebody did and as long as you didn't get hurt."

**Tyson yelled, "Percy, duck!"**

**I rolled as another dodgeball whistled past my ear at the speed of sound.**

**Whooom!**

**It hit the wall mat, and Corey Bailer yelped.**

**"Hey!" I yelled at Sloan's team. "You could kill some body!"**

"Exactly what he wants to do…"

**The visitor named Joe Bob grinned at me evilly. Somehow, he looked a lot bigger now ... even taller than Tyson. His biceps bulged beneath his T-shirt. "I hope so, Perseus Jackson! I hope so!"**

"Here comes that part where Percy figures it out," Thalia predicted.

The way he said my name sent a chill down my back. Nobody called me Perseus except those who knew my true identity. Friends ... and enemies.

**What had Tyson said? They smell funny.**

**Monsters.**

"Finally! Little Percy understands!" Nico exclaimed.

"Little?" Percy snorted. "I'm like 2 years older than you!"

"Technically, I'm like 50 years older than you." Nico shuddered. "On second thought. Sure, you're older than me."

"Weird how Thalia's right…" Connor said.

"Why is everyone always right except me?" Percy pouted.

"Because we're awesome like that," Nico responded.

**All around Matt Sloan, the visitors were growing in size. They were no longer kids. They were eight-foot-tall giants with wild eyes, pointy teeth, and hairy arms tattooed with snakes and hula women and Valentine hearts.**

"Giant cannibals with Valentine hearts," Thalia laughed. "Very manly!"

**Matt Sloan dropped his ball. "Whoa! You're not from Detroit! Who …"**

"After all that, all he can say is that they're not from Detroit?" Nico rolled his eyes.

**The other kids on his team started screaming and backing toward the exit, but the giant named Marrow Sucker threw a ball with deadly accuracy. It streaked past Raj Mandali just as he was about to leave and hit the door, slamming it shut like magic. Raj and some of the other kids banged on it desperately but it wouldn't budge.**

**"Let them go!" I yelled at the giants.**

**The one called Joe Bob growled at me. He had a tattoo on his biceps that said: JBluvs Babycakes."And lose our tasty morsels? No, Son of the Sea God. We Laistrygonians aren't just playing for your death. We want lunch!"**

"And here comes the cannibal part," Thalia sighed.

**He waved his hand and a new batch of dodgeballs appeared on the center line—but these balls weren't made of red rubber. They were bronze, the size of cannon balls, perforated like riffle balls with fire bubbling out the holes. They must've been searing hot, but the giants picked them up with their bare hands.**

**"Coach!" I yelled.**

"Like that old sot is going to help…" Nico muttered.

"This really isn't good. You'd think we'd have a satyr there or something." Apollo muttered.

"The satyrs are probably still trying to find Pan. We need more scouts out there though. Maybe we should implement a new plan? Zeus?" Athena said. "We should think about adding at least one contact in every school around the country so we can keep an eye on our children."

He grunted and Dionysus read on.

**Nunley looked up sleepily, but if he saw anything abnormal about the dodgeball game, he didn't let on. That's the problem with mortals. A magical force called the Mist obscures the true appearance of monsters and gods from their vision, so mortals tend to see only what they can understand. Maybe the coach saw a few eighth graders pounding the younger kids like usual. Maybe the other kids saw Matt Sloan's thugs getting ready to toss Molotov cock tails around. (It wouldn't have been the first time.) At any rate, I was pretty sure nobody else realized we were dealing with genuine man-eating bloodthirsty monsters.**

**"Yeah. Mm-hmm," Coach muttered. "Play nice."**

**And he went back to his magazine.**

"Mortals amuse me," Hermes laughed, only to be silenced by a water ball and an owl.

**The giant named Skull Eater threw his ball. I dove aside as the fiery bronze comet sailed past my shoulder.**

**"Corey!" I screamed.**

**Tyson pulled him out from behind the exercise mat just as the ball exploded against it, blasting the mat to smoking shreds.**

**"Run!" I told my teammates. "The other exit!"**

"I don't think they're going to make it," Thalia sighed.

"It was worth a try," Percy said.

**They ran for the locker room, but with another wave of Joe Bob's hand, that door also slammed shut.**

**"No one leaves unless you're out!" Joe Bob roared. "And you're not out until we eat you!"**

"I wonder why no one is screaming their butts off at that statement," Connor commented, daring to be the only one in the entire room to make a sound. Well at least the demigods weren't so tense.

**He launched his own fireball. My teammates scattered as it blasted a crater in the gym floor.**

**I reached for Riptide, which I always kept in my pocket, but then I realized I was wearing gym shorts.**

"You sleep with your sword but you don't bring it when Sloan says he's going to kill you?" Poseidon said in a frenzy.

"I have really bad luck," Percy sighed. "Sorry, dad."

"I guess we can all agree on that," Nico said.

**I had no pockets. Riptide was tucked in my jeans inside my gym locker. And the locker room door was sealed. I was completely defenseless.**

**Another fireball came streaking toward me. Tyson pushed me out of the way, but the explosion still blew me head over heels. I found myself sprawled on the gym floor, dazed from smoke, my tie-dyed T-shirt peppered with sizzling holes. Just across the center line, two hungry giants were glaring down at me.**

**"Flesh!" they bellowed. "Hero flesh for lunch!" They both took aim.**

"Wow, someone needs to change their diet." Aphrodite scolded the book.

"Like cereal!" Demeter interrupted.

"Sure, whatever…"

**"Percy needs help!" Tyson yelled, and he jumped in front of me just as they threw their balls.**

"Awe! How sweet!" Aphrodite and Demeter said.

"Good old Tyson," Percy sighed. He missed the big guy.

**"Tyson!" I screamed, but it was too late.**

**Both balls slammed into him ... but no ... he'd caught them. Somehow Tyson, who was so clumsy he knocked over lab equipment and broke playground structures on a regular basis, had caught two fiery metal balls speeding toward him at a zillion miles an hour.**

"That is awesome!" Nico exclaimed.

"Zillion isn't a number," Athena stated.

"Only an owl head like you would point that out," Poseidon said.

"At least I have a brain, unlike you."

"I have a brain; I'm just not a know-it-all like you,"

"Well, in her defense, she is the goddess of wisdom." Percy said.

"Your son may not be on my good side yet, but he's inching closer." Athena muttered to Poseidon.

**He sent them hurtling back toward their surprised owners, who screamed, "BAAAAAD!" as the bronze spheres exploded against their chests.**

Apollo and Hermes laughed.

**The giants disintegrated in twin columns of flame—a sure sign they were monsters, all right. Monsters don't die. They just dissipate into smoke and dust, which saves heroes a lot of trouble cleaning up after a fight.**

"Can you imagine the aftermath of the war if we had had to clean up afterwords?" Travis asked.

"I don't want too, it was bad enough." Annabeth and Percy said together.

**"My brothers!" Joe Bob the Cannibal wailed. He flexed his muscles and hisBabycakestattoo rippled. "You will pay for their destruction!"**

**"Tyson!" I said. "Look out!"**

**Another comet hurtled toward us. Tyson just had time to swat it aside. It flew straight over Coach Nunley's head and landed in the bleachers with a huge KA-BOOM!**

"And he still didn't notice?" Hades asked incredulously.

"Nope," Percy muttered popping the 'p.'

"KABOOM!" Ares smiled evilly.

Someone's crazy, Nico mouthed to Thalia. Nico smiled as Thalia laughed; how musical.

**Kids were running around screaming, trying to avoid the sizzling craters in the floor. Others were banging on the door, calling for help. Sloan himself stood petrified in the middle of the court, watching in disbelief as balls of death flew around him.**

**Coach Nunley still wasn't seeing anything. He tapped his hearing aid like the explosions were giving him interference, but he kept his eyes on his magazine.**

**Surely the whole school could hear the noise. The head master, the police, somebody would come help us.**

"Mortals can't do anything right," Hephaestus muttered.

**"Victory will be ours!" roared Joe Bob the Cannibal. "We will feast on your bones!"**

**I wanted to tell him he was taking the dodgeball game way too seriously, but before I could, he hefted another ball. The other three giants followed his lead.**

**I knew we were dead. Tyson couldn't deflect all those balls at once. His hands had to be seriously burned from blocking the first volley. Without my sword ...**

**I had a crazy idea.**

"NO!" Poseidon and Nico exclaimed.

Everyone groaned.

"You know everything is bad when Percy has an idea," Thalia snickered.

"Wow thanks Thalia!" Percy glared.

"No, he's typical idea's are okay," Nico said making Percy sit up a little higher. "It's the crazy one's you have to look out for." Percy pouted again.

**I ran toward the locker room.**

"That actually might work," Athena muttered to everyone's surprise.

**"Move!" I told my teammates. "Away from the door."**

"THAT'S RIGHT, MOVE AWAY FROM THE DOOR!" Connor shouted.

Everyone just shook their head and carried on with the book.

**Explosions behind me. Tyson had batted two of the balls back toward their owners and blasted them to ashes. "Yeah, Tyson!" The room chorused.**

**That left two giants still standing.**

**A third ball hurtled straight at me. I forced myself to wait—one Mississippi, two Mississippi—then dove aside as the fiery sphere demolished the locker room door.**

"I guess it was a pretty good plan, but it was really risky." Annabeth frowned at Percy.

"Never do that again!" Poseidon pleaded.

"I wish I could promise you that, but it's too late," Percy cringed.

**Now, I figured that the built-up gas in most boys' locker rooms was enough to cause an explosion, so I wasn't surprised when the flaming dodgeball ignited a huge WHOOOOOOOM!**

"EWWWW!" All the girls in the room screamed as some of the guys yelled "AWESOME!"

"Well… That must've been an interesting… sight." Hephaestus mused.

Percy chuckled. "I guess you could say that."

**The wall blew apart. Locker doors, socks, athletic supporters, and other various nasty personal belongings rained all over the gym.**

**I turned just in time to see Tyson punch Skull Eater in the face. The giant crumpled. But the last giant, Joe Bob, had wisely held on to his own ball, waiting for an opportunity. He threw just as Tyson was turning to face him.**

**"No!" I yelled.**

Everyone held their breath.

**The ball caught Tyson square in the chest. He slid the length of the court and slammed into the back wall, which cracked and partially crumbled on top of him, making a hole right onto Church Street. I didn't see how Tyson could still be alive, but he only looked dazed. The bronze ball was smoking at his feet. Tyson tried to pick it up, but he fell back, stunned, into a pile of cinder blocks.**

Poseidon sucked in a breath. "Tyson," he muttered.

**"Well!" Joe Bob gloated. "I'm the last one standing! I'll have enough meat to bring Babycakes a doggie bag!"**

**He picked up another ball and aimed it at Tyson.**

**"Stop!" I yelled. "It's me you want!"**

**The giant grinned. "You wish to die first, young hero?"**

**I had to do something. Riptide had to be around here somewhere.**

**Then I spotted my jeans in a smoking heap of clothes right by the giant's feet. If I could only get there... I knew it was hopeless, but I charged.**

"PERCY!" Everyone groaned.

"Why are you so instinctive!" Poseidon banged his head on his throne repeatedly.

"It's in my blood…" Percy sighed.

**The giant laughed. "My lunch approaches." He raised his arm to throw. I braced myself to die.**

"It's like you want to die!" Nico yelled at Percy angrily.

"Sorry…" was all Percy could say.

Poseidon whimpered and he looked like he was going to pull his hair out.

**Suddenly the giant's body went rigid. His expression changed from gloating to surprise. Right where his belly button should've been, his T-shirt ripped open and he grew something like a horn—no, not a horn—the glowing tip of a blade.**

Poseidon let out a huge sigh.

"Go, Annabeth!" Thalia shouted encouragingly.

The ball dropped out of his hand. The monster stared down at the knife that had just run him through from behind.

**He muttered, "Ow," and burst into a cloud of green flame, which I figured was going to make Babycakes pretty upset.**

A few of the gods chuckled. "It probably will," said Demeter with a smile.

**Standing in the smoke was my friend Annabeth. Her face was grimy and scratched. She had a ragged backpack slung over her shoulder, her baseball cap tucked in her pocket, a bronze knife in her hand, and a wild look in her storm-gray eyes, like she'd just been chased a thousand miles by ghosts.**

Poseidon looked at Annabeth thankfully.

"Percy, if you want to keep trying to kill yourself, I'm going to put you into a mental institute." Poseidon said to Percy.

"I don't try! It just… keeps on happening," Percy quietly said. "I'm telling you, it's not my fault!"

**Matt Sloan, who'd been standing there dumbfounded the whole time, finally came to his senses. He blinked at Annabeth, as if he dimly recognized her from my notebook picture. "That's the girl ... That's the girl—"**

**Annabeth punched him in the nose and knocked him flat.**

"You go, Annabeth!" Everyone cheered.

**"And you,"she told him, "lay off my friend."**

"Man, you're like a ninja!" Connor exclaimed, standing up and kicking his feet in the air.

"Uh… Thanks," Annabeth chuckled.

**The gym was in flames. Kids were still running around screaming. I heard sirens wailing and a garbled voice over the intercom. Through the glass windows of the exit doors, I could see the headmaster, Mr. Bonsai, wrestling with the lock, a crowd of teachers piling up behind him.**

**"Annabeth ..." I stammered. "How did you ... how long have you ..."**

**"Pretty much all morning." She sheathed her bronze knife. "I've been trying to find a good time to talk to you, but you were never alone."**

**"The shadow I saw this morning—that was—" My face felt hot. "Oh my gods, you were looking in my bed room window?"**

"You make it sound so dramatic," Thalia laughed.

"And disturbing," Connor said.

"Connor, get you're mind out of the gutter, I'm not a stalker!" Annabeth glared.

"Whoa, so it was Annabeth all along," Travis said.

"And connection finally made," She said with a grin.

**"There's no time to explain!" she snapped, though she looked a little red-faced herself. "I just didn't want to—"**

**"There!" a woman screamed. The doors burst open and the adults came pouring in.**

**"Meet me outside," Annabeth told me. "And him." She pointed to Tyson, who was still sitting dazed against the wall. Annabeth gave him a look of distaste that I didn't quite understand. "You'd better bring him."**

"Why don't you like him?" Poseidon asked Annabeth.

Annabeth just ignored him.

**"What?"**

**"No time!" she said. "Hurry!"**

**She put on her Yankees baseball cap, which was a magic gift from her mom, and instantly vanished.**

**That left me standing alone in the middle of the burning gymnasium when the headmaster came charging in with half the faculty and a couple of police officers.**

**"Percy Jackson?" Mr. Bonsai said. "What ... how ..."**

**Over by the broken wall, Tyson groaned and stood up from the pile of cinder blocks. "Head hurts."**

**Matt Sloan was coming around, too. He focused on me with a look of terror. "Percy did it, Mr. Bonsai! He set the whole building on fire. Coach Nunley will tell you! He saw it all!"**

"WHAT A LITTLE –" Thalia fumed.

"Brat," Percy interrupted before Thalia could say something else that would end her up in further trouble.

"Take it from me, you don't want to be on the gods bad side." He muttered lowly.

**Coach Nunley had been dutifully reading his magazine, but just my luck—he chose that moment to look up when Sloan said his name. "Eh? Yeah. Mm-hmm."**

"What a pathetic coach," Nico sighed.

"I always get blamed for everything," Percy sighed. "I'm used to it."

**The other adults turned toward me. I knew they would never believe me, even if I could tell them the truth.**

"That's true, they never believe the truth." Thalia glared at the book. "Adults are stupid."

Zeus cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Except for gods," Thalia sighed.

That made all the Olympians happier.

**I grabbed Riptide out of my ruined jeans, told Tyson, "Come on!" and jumped through the gaping hole in the side of the building.**

"Well, that's the end of the chapter," Dionysus mumbled.

"What a dramatic exit, don't you think?" Nico asked.

"You've been taking lessons from your uncle, haven't you?" Poseidon smiled, glad that his son didn't get hurt yet.


	3. Chapter 3

They left for dinner and soon came back with full stomachs and eager ears.

"So who's reading?" Connor asked curiously.

"Hera will, she hasn't read yet." Zeus said

"Fine" Hera grumbled

"Alrighty," Connor said, taking the book from Dionysus and giving it to Hera.

She cleared his throat than began.

**"We Hail the Taxi of Eternal Torment," **Hera read.

"After all we've been through, this taxi was nothing." Percy tried to hide his flinch with a small smile.

"Still sounds horrible," Poseidon groaned.

"Oh, they are," Hades said with a groan thinking of all the times he'd had to interact with the sisters.

**Annabeth was waiting for us in an alley down Church Street. She pulled Tyson and me off the sidewalk just as a fire truck screamed past, heading for Merriwether Prep.**

"The fire truck was courtesy of the one and only Percy Jackson!" Connor dramatically exclaimed.

"I think everyone here already knows that," Annabeth stated.

**"Where'd you find him?" she demanded, pointing at Tyson.**

**Now, under different circumstances, I would've been really happy to see her. We'd made our peace last summer, despite the fact that her mom was Athena and didn't get along with my dad. I'd missed Annabeth probably more than I wanted to admit.**

Nico glared at Percy.

Percy then said. "Ohh, you know I love you" Then kissed him.

"Bleh," Travis pretended to gag.

"Look who's talking, Mr. I'm-so-head-over-heels-for-Katie-Gardner." Percy said, making everyone snicker.

"I d-don't like K-Katie!" Travis stammered as he tried not to blush.

"My daughter?" Demeter asked incredulously.

"Aww… Another love story I can meddle with!" Aphrodite said excitedly.

"I don't know w-what you're talking a-about!" Travis said, his face turning red. "Just read on!"

**But I'd just been attacked by cannibal giants, Tyson had saved my life three or four times, and all Annabeth could do was glare at him like hewas the problem.**

"Why don't you like Tyson?" Poseidon looked accusingly at Annabeth.

"I… You'll find out soon enough," Annabeth quietly said thinking of her past experiences.

Athena and Zeus looked at each other. Having watched their children make their journey to the camp, they understood what had happened better than any of the others in the room.

**"He's my friend," I told her.**

**"Is he homeless?"**

**"What does that have to do with anything? He can hear you, you know. Why don't you ask him?"**

**She looked surprised. "He can talk?"**

"That's kind of mean," Apollo pouted, making Annabeth hang her head in shame.

"I know it was," She muttered quietly.

**"I talk," Tyson admitted. "You are pretty."**

"Aw, that's pretty cute," Aphrodite said. "Especially for a cyclopes,"

**"Ah! Gross!" Annabeth stepped away from him.**

"I can't believe I treated Tyson so horribly." Annabeth said with a moan.

"Well, believe it cause it's true," Connor said.

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Annie," Thalia said.

"Yeah, you had you're reason," Percy agreed.

"It might've been a bad reason, but still a reason, Annie!" Travis encouraged.

"Don't call me Annie!" Annabeth slapped Travis hard.

"Oww, but Thalia just called you that!"

"That's because she's allowed to, unlike you!"

"Travis, I suggest you shut your mouth and learn to give better pep talks before we all find out Travis Stoll does not exist anymore," Percy snickered.

"It's a miracle! Percy can finally give good advice!" Nico celebrated.

"Of course I can give good advice," Percy pouted and Annabeth's smile returned faintly.

**I couldn't believe she was being so rude. I examined Tyson's hands, which I was sure must've been badly scorched by the flaming dodge balls,**

"You're lack of knowledge of our culture is disturbing," Athena said shaking her head. "Just because you're a son of Poseidon doesn't mean you're not allowed to use that head of yours."

**but they looked fine—grimy and scarred, with dirty fingernails the size of potato chips—but they always looked like that. "Tyson," I said in disbelief. "Your hands aren't even burned."**

Percy opened his mouth to say something but Nico beat him to it. "Yeah yeah, we all know what you're going to say." Then he started to tease him.

"I didn't know Tyson was a Cyclopes back than, give me a break!" Nico imitated in Percy's voice.

"That doesn't sound like me at all!" Percy huffed.

"Yes it does," everyone chorused.

"What do you people know," Percy muttered under his breath.

**"Of course not," Annabeth muttered. "I'm surprised the Laistrygonians had the guts to attack you with him around."**

**Tyson seemed fascinated by Annabeth's blond hair. He tried to touch it, but she smacked his hand away.**

"Still waiting for the answer as to why you're acting this way," Poseidon brought up.

"Stop being so impatient!" Athena scowled.

"I'm not impatient! I've been waiting for…"

"Three minutes and fifty-two seconds," Apollo interrupted, counting his fingers.

"Exactly!" Poseidon said.

Athena rubbed her temples as if just looking at him would cause her immense pain, which might have been true.

**"Annabeth," I said, "what are you talking about? Laistry-what?"**

**"Laistrygonians. The monsters in the gym. They're a race of giant cannibals who live in the far north. Odysseus ran into them once, but I've never seen them as far south as New York before."**

"Have you noticed that our adventures seemed to always be related the heroes?" Percy suddenly asked.

Annabeth counted them off on her fingers. "Yeah, like Odysseus, Heracles, Achilles, Jason, Perseus –"

"We get it, smarty pants. You're so much like your mother." Apollo said, than added "really boring," under his breath. Unluckily for him, Athena heard that last little bit and sent an owl to peck him.

"Okay! OKAY! I'M SORRY! Ju-Just call off the bird! Please?" Athena smiled and waved her hand causing the owl to fly out the closest doorway.

**"Laistry—I can't even say that. What would you call them in English?"**

**She thought about it for a moment. "Canadians," she decided.**

Laughter commenced.

"Canadians…" Hephaestus mused.

**"Now come on, we have to get out of here."**

**"The police'll be after me."**

**"That's the least of our problems," she said. "Have you been having the dreams?"**

**"The dreams ... about Grover?"**

**Her face turned pale. "Grover? No, what about Grover?"**

**I told her my dream. "Why? What were youdreaming about?"**

**Her eyes looked stormy, like her mind was racing a million miles an hour.**

**"Camp," she said at last. "Big trouble at camp."**

"What's wrong at camp?" Apollo asked.

"If you would just be quiet and let Hera read, maybe you would find out!" Athena snapped.

**"My mom was saying the same thing! But what kind of trouble?"**

**"I don't know exactly. Something's wrong. We have to get there right away. Monsters have been chasing me all the way from Virginia, Athena narrowed her eyes. "Why were you in Virginia? I thought you were trying out your dads for the year..." She trailed off into a question.**

Annabeth couldn't meet her mother's eyes.

**trying to stop me. Have you had a lot of attacks?"**

**I shook my head. "None all year ... until today."**

**"None? But how ..." Her eyes drifted to Tyson. "Oh."**

"Is it cool having a Cyclopes as a brother?" Nico asked.

"Duh!" Percy excitedly replied.

"I wish I had a Cyclopes…"

"Well, you have the kindly ones, Cerberus, a bunch of dead people and…" Percy trailed off, realizing they might not be the best companions.

"You're right! I have an awesome bunch of things that follow my commands! I wonder if I can make Alecto my sibling… That would be pretty weird," Nico jumped up and down.

"Someone ate too much sugar this evening," Annabeth said.

"Nico, only you would think hanging out with a bunch of dead people is awesome," Thalia laughed.

"Well," Nico blushed, "It is very awesome if I do say so myself,"

**"What do you mean, 'oh'?"**

**Tyson raised his hand like he was still in class. "Canadians in the gym called Percy something ... Son of the Sea God?"**

"Looks like Tyson is smart," Nico noted.

"I guess he gets his brains from the other side of his family," Thalia snickered at Percy and Poseidon.

"Hey!" They both yelled.

**Annabeth and I exchanged looks.**

**I didn't know how I could explain, but I figured Tyson deserved the truth after almost getting killed.**

**"Big guy," I said, "you ever hear those old stories about the Greek gods? Like Zeus, Poseidon, Athena—"**

**"Yes," Tyson said.**

**"Well ... those gods are still alive. They kind of follow Western Civilization around, living in the strongest countries,so like now they're in the U.S. And sometimes they have kids with mortals. Kids called half-bloods."**

**"Yes," Tyson said, like he was still waiting for me to get to the point.**

"Oh, Percy, Percy, Percy…" Hermes shook his head in mock disappointment.

"I didn't know, ok!" Percy said exasperatedly.

"Not surprising there…" Thalia murmured.

"Could you, like, shut it?" Percy sighed at Thalia. "It's getting really old!"

"No, its okay!" Thalia stubbornly replied.

Percy looked at her annoying cousin and restrained himself to say anything. For now.

**"Uh, well, Annabeth and I are half-bloods," I said. "We're like ... heroes-in-training. And whenever monsters pick up our scent, they attack us. That's what those giants were in the gym. Monsters."**

**"Yes."**

**I stared at him. He didn't seem surprised or confused by what I was telling him, which surprised and confused me.**

"Very ironic," Hestia agreed.

**"So ... you believe me?"**

**Tyson nodded. "But you are ... Son of the Sea God?"**

**"Yeah," I admitted. "My dad is Poseidon."**

**Tyson he looked confused. "But then …"**

"I think he gets that you two are siblings," Athena muttered with a smile. "That is kind of sweet."

**A siren wailed. A police car raced past our alley.**

"Ah, stupid police car…" Percy muttered.

"Now, now, don't blame the poor innocent police car!" Apollo said.

"It's not innocent!" Percy exclaimed.

**"We don't have time for this," Annabeth said. "We'll talk in the taxi."**

**"A taxi all the way to camp?" I said. "You know how much money—"**

**"Trust me."**

**I hesitated. "What about Tyson?"**

"Oh, the sisters won't like that," Hades said, understanding what Annabeth's plan was.

"What sisters?" Connor asked and Hades waved his hand.

"You'll understand if you listen," Travis muttered.

"You're learning!" Thalia exclaimed.

**I imagined escorting my giant friend into Camp Half-Blood. If he freaked out on a regular playground with regular bullies, how would he act at a training camp for demigods? On the other hand, the cops would be looking for us.**

**"We can't just leave him," I decided. "He'll be in trouble, too."**

"If you leave my son," Poseidon started, "either one of them..."

"I know Lord Poseidon," Annabeth said with a weak smile. "Don't worry, I didn't leave either one."

**"Yeah." Annabeth looked grim. "We definitely need to take him. Now come on."**

**I didn't like the way she said that, as if Tyson were a big disease we needed to get to the hospital, but I followed her down the alley. Poseidon's eyes tightened. Annabeth sighed and sat up a little higher, telling herself the past is in the past and she, herself, can't change it. Together the three of us sneaked through the side streets of downtown while a huge column of smoke billowed up behind us from my school gymnasium.**

**"Here." Annabeth stopped on the corner of Thomas and Trimble. She fished around in her backpack. "I hope I have one left."**

**She looked even worse than I'd realized at first.**

**Her chin was cut. Twigs and grass were tangled in her ponytail, as if she'd slept several nights in the open. The slashes on the hems of her jeans looked suspiciously like claw marks.**

"What have you been up to?" Athena asked worriedly.

Annabeth didn't answer, but stared blankly ahead.

**"What are you looking for?" I asked.**

**All around us, sirens wailed. I figured it wouldn't be long before more cops cruised by, looking for juvenile delinquent gym-bombers. No doubt Matt Sloan had given them a statement by now. He'd probably twisted the story around so that Tyson and I were the bloodthirsty cannibals.**

"Punk," Ares muttered.

**"Found one. Thank the gods."**

"You're welcome," Hermes and Apollo said together.

**Annabeth pulled out a gold coin that I recognized as a drachma, the currency of Mount Olympus. It had Zeus's likeness stamped on one side and the Empire State Building on the other.**

**"Annabeth," I said, "New York taxi drivers won't take that."**

"Percy, she's the daughter of Athena. I think, no, scratch that, I'm SURE she knows what she's doing." Thalia noted.

"Blame the ADHD," Percy replied monotonously.

"You should probably stop using the excuse soon," Travis smirked.

"No way, it's the best excuse ever," Percy said.

**"Stêthi," she shouted in Ancient Greek. "Ô hárma diabolês!"**

**As usual, the moment she spoke in the language of Olympus, I somehow understood it. She'd said: Stop, Chariot of Damnation!**

"Well, judging by the name, I wouldn't really want to ride it." Travis stated.

"Trust me," Percy and Nico said. "It's not a fun ride." Then they both blushed.

**That didn't exactly make me feel real excited about whatever her plan was.**

**She threw her coin into the street, but instead of clattering on the asphalt, the drachma sank right through and disappeared.**

"Cool," Connor said, "But huh?"

**For a moment, nothing happened.**

**Then, just where the coin had fallen, the asphalt darkened. It melted into a rectangular pool about the size of a parking space—bubbling red liquid like blood. Then a car erupted from the ooze.**

"I'll take Shadow-Traveling over the Gray Sisters Taxi, anyday." Nico said.

Percy looked at his boyfriend. "I've got to admit, shadow traveling is cool, but after going on it, I always feel like puking."

Nico shrugged. "You'll get used to it."

"But doesn't it wear you out?" Annabeth said.

"Well..." He said. "Only a little bit."

"I seem to recall you saying 'I passed out for a week the first time I tried it.'" Percy said.

"Thanks." Nico muttered and glared at Percy.

**It was a taxi, all right, but unlike every other taxi in New York, it wasn't yellow. It was smoky gray. I mean it looked like it was wovenout of smoke, like you could walk right through it. There were words printed on the door—some thing like GYAR SSIRES—but my dyslexia made it hard for me to decipher what it said.**

"What was it called?" Travis asked.

"Gray Sisters," Percy recalled, Hades stated, and Poseidon groaned again.

**The passenger window rolled down, and an old woman stuck her head out. She had a mop of grizzled hair covering her eyes, and she spoke in a weird mumbling way, like she'd just had a shot of Novocain.**

**"Passage? Passage?"**

**"Three to Camp Half-Blood," Annabeth said. She opened the cab's back door and waved at me to get in, like this was all completely normal.**

**"Ach!" the old woman screeched. "We don't take his kind!"**

**She pointed a bony finger at Tyson.**

"What a mean lady!" Connor frowned.

**What was it? Pick-on-Big-and-Ugly-Kids Day?**

"You called Tyson ugly…" Travis said.

"I wonder if there really is a 'Pick-on-Big-and-Ugly-Kids day'…" Hermes wondered.

**"Extra pay," Annabeth promised. "Three more drachma on arrival."**

**"Done!" the woman screamed.**

"Ahh… Bribing. Annabeth, I – We are so proud of you!" Travis said, pretending to wipe away a tear.

"True Hermes kids," Hermes looked at his children with pride.

"Nice job," Connor put an arm around Annabeth.

"Well thanks, Connor," Annabeth said, but than finally realized. She quickly checked her pockets. "Connor, give it back!"

"Dude, you said she wouldn't notice!" Travis said.

Connor reluctantly gave her Yankees hat back. "So close."

She tucked it back in her pocket quickly.

**Reluctantly I got in the cab. Tyson squeezed in the middle. Annabeth crawled in last.**

**The interior was also smoky gray, but it felt solid enough. The seat was cracked and lumpy—no different than most taxis. There was no Plexiglas screen separating us from the old lady driving ... Wait a minute. There wasn't just one old lady. There were three, all crammed in the front seat, each with stringy hair covering her eyes, bony hands, and a charcoal-colored sackcloth dress.**

"What the Hades?" Travis questioned. "Three old ladies driving? That must be the weirdest thing ever"

"Not really," Percy mused.

"Would you GET OVER IT and just listen?" Thalia cracked, wanting to add more to her sentence but one glance at her father and Lady Artemis she decided against it.

**The one driving said, "Long Island! Out-of-metro fare bonus! Ha!"**

**She floored the accelerator, and my head slammed against the backrest. A prerecorded voice came on over the speaker: Hi, this is Ganymede, cup-bearer to Zeus, and when I'm out buying wine for the Lord of the Skies, I always buckle up!**

**"What?"**

Poseidon managed a laugh along with Apollo and Hestia.

**I looked down and found a large black chain instead of a seat belt. I decided I wasn't that desperate ... yet.**

"You probably should have put on the seat belt," Poseidon and Nico said nervously.

"But I never do as told," Percy said as his friends agreed.

"I mean, he doesn't listen to camp rules either," Travis stated.

"What exactly are you implying?" Poseidon asked warily.

"Only that Percy has a tendency to sneak out when he want something." Annabeth and Nico said.

"And this happens often?"

"You'll just have to wait and see, dad." Percy said. "Could we continue?"

Hera obliged.

**The cab sped around the corner of West Broadway, and the gray lady sitting in the middle screeched, "Look out! Go left!"**

**"Well,if you'd give me the eye, Tempest, I could see that!" the driver complained.**

**Wait a minute. Give her the eye?**

"They only have one eye," Poseidon gulped.

"And one tooth," Annabeth added.

"What, oh my gods that is so creepy!" Thalia said.

"I would hate to share my eye," Nico agreed.

**I didn't have time to ask questions because the driver swerved to avoid an on coming delivery truck, ran over the curb with a jaw-rattling thump,and flew into the next block.**

**"Wasp!" the third lady said to the driver. "Give me the girl's coin! I want to bite it."**

"Why would she want to bite it?"

"I don't know," Percy shrugged

**"You bit it last time, Anger!" said the driver, whose name must've been Wasp. "It's my turn!"**

**"Is not!" yelled the one called Anger.**

"Why are they fighting over biting a coin!" Athena scowled.

"Shouldn't you know, Athena? You are the goddess of wisdom..." Poseidon said with a smirk.

Athena frowned at him, "It's not like I know why people fight over trivial things such as this, let alone the Gray Sisters; they've been fighting for centuries."

**The middle one, Tempest, screamed, "Red light!"**

**"Brake!" yelled Anger.**

**Instead, Wasp floored the accelerator and rode up on the curb, screeching around another corner, and knocking over a newspaper box. She left my stomach somewhere back on Broome Street.**

"How can she leave your stomach back on Broome Street?" Apollo asked.

"It was a figure of speech," Percy chuckled.

**"Excuse me," I said. "But ... can you see?"**

**"No!" screamed Wasp from behind the wheel.**

**"No!" screamed Tempest from the middle.**

**"Of course!" screamed Anger by the shotgun window.**

**I looked at Annabeth. "They're blind?"**

**"Not completely," Annabeth said. "They have an eye."**

**"One eye?"**

**"Yeah."**

**"Each?"**

**"No. One eye total."**

"Absolutely scary," Travis muttered. "Who would be crazy enough to ride in a taxi with three old ladies that share one eye and one tooth."

"Apparently Annabeth, Nico and Percy," Thalia smirked.

"I can understand Percy, but Annabeth, really?" Thalia shook her head in mock shame. "I knew you were weird, but crazy too?"

"I'm not weird or crazy!" Annabeth yelled.

Percy glared at Thalia. "I'm not crazy either!"

"Yes you are," everyone chorused, causing Percy to frown.

**Next to me, Tyson groaned and grabbed the seat. "Not feeling so good."**

"Darn, this is not going to be pretty," Apollo laughed.

**"Oh, man," I said, because I'd seen Tyson get carsick on school field trips and it was not something you wanted to be within fifty feet of. "Hang in there, big guy. Anybody got a garbage bag or something?"**

**The three gray ladies were too busy squabbling to pay me any attention. I looked over at Annabeth, who was hanging on for dear life, and I gave her a why-did-you-do-this-to-me look.**

"Why did you do this to him?" Apollo dramatically exclaimed.

"Honestly, how are you so immature," Artemis rolled her eyes.

"How are you not?"

"Simple. I just don't act like you."

**"Hey," she said, "Gray Sisters Taxi is the fastest way to camp."**

**"Then why didn't you take it from Virginia?"**

**"That's outside their service area," she said, like that should be obvious. "They only serve Greater New York and surrounding communities."**

**"We've had famous people in this cab!" Anger exclaimed. "Jason! You remember him?"**

"Jason…" Thalia muttered bitterly and sadly, a smile playing on her lips. She looked as if she was miles away.

No one understood why she was acting so moody all of a sudden.

**"Don't remind me!" Wasp wailed. "And we didn't have a cab back then, you old bat. That was three thousand years ago!"**

**"Give me the tooth!" Anger tried to grab at Wasp's mouth, but Wasp swatted her hand away.**

**"Only if Tempest gives me the eye!"**

**"No!" Tempest screeched. "You had it yesterday!"**

"Disgusting!" Aphrodite screeched.

"I know right!" Travis smiled widely.

**"But I'm driving, you old hag!"**

**"Excuses! Turn! That was your turn!"**

**Wasp swerved hard onto Delancey Street, squishing me between Tyson and the door. She punched the gas and we shot up the Williamsburg Bridge at seventy miles an hour.**

"Oh dear, what a bunch of crazy ladies!" Demeter shivered. "I'm glad I never have to use them to get around."

"Exactly what we've been saying this past chapter."

**The three sisters were fighting for real now, slapping each other as Anger tried to grab at Wasp's face and Wasp tried to grab at Tempest's. With their hair flying and their mouths open, screaming at each other, I realized that none of the sisters had any teeth except for Wasp, who had one mossy yellow incisor. Instead of eyes, they just had closed, sunken eyelids, except for Anger, who had one bloodshot green eye that stared at everything hungrily, as if it couldn't get enough of anything it saw.**

"That sucks, not being able to see," Percy sighed.

"They shouldn't even be driving," Connor shivered.

**Finally Anger, who had the advantage of sight, managed to yank the tooth out of her sister Wasp's mouth. This made Wasp so mad she swerved toward the edge of the Williamsburg Bridge, yelling, "'Ivit back! 'Ivit back!"**

**Tyson groaned and clutched his stomach.**

**"Uh, if anybody's interested," I said, "We're going to die!"**

"And apparently no one cares," Connor said.

"Except for… ya know,Nico, camp half-blood, us, your father, the Olympians –" Thalia named.

"Wait, why would we care?" Zeus interrupted.

"Well, I think you would care since without Percy, the gods and goddesses would be in the pits of Tartarus being tortured as Kronos takes over the world," Annabeth said.

"Oh, I guess so," Zeus grumbled.

"They sure have a funny way of showing it," Percy stated.

**"Don't worry," Annabeth told me, sounding pretty worried. "The Gray Sisters know what they're doing. They're really very wise."**

**This was coming from the daughter of Athena, but I wasn't exactly reassured.**

"They don't seem wise, but they are," Annabeth said, and Athena nodded her head.

**We were skimming along the edge of a bridge a hundred and thirty feet above the East River.**

**"Yes, wise!" Anger grinned in the rearview mirror, showing off her newly acquired tooth. "We know things!"**

"I guess they agree with you," Hera said.

"Obviously, I'm a daughter of Athena," Annabeth proudly said.

"Annoying demigods," Hera muttered under her breath.

"Just like your mother," Hermes muttered playfully.

**"Every street in Manhattan!" Wasp bragged, still hitting her sister. "The capital of Nepal!"**

**"The location you seek!" Tempest added.**

**Immediately her sisters pummeled her from either side, screaming, "Be quiet! Be quiet! He didn't even ask yet!"**

**"What?" I said. "What location? I'm not seeking any—"**

**"Nothing!" Tempest said. "You're right, boy. It's nothing!"**

**"Tell me."**

**"No!" they all screamed.**

"Can't resist the temptation, can you?" Travis laughed.

"I hate not knowing stuff," Percy shrugged.

"Than you must be full of hatred right now," Thalia joked.

"Just kidding," she added after Percy glared.

**"The last time we told, it was horrible!" Tempest said.**

**"Eye tossed in a lake!" Anger agreed.**

**"Years to find it again!" Wasp moaned. "And speaking of that—give it back!"**

**"No!" yelled Anger.**

**"Eye!" Wasp yelled. "Gimme!"**

**She whacked her sister Anger on the back. There was a sickening popand something flew out of Anger's face. Anger fumbled for it, trying to catch it, but she only managed to bat it with the back of her hand. The slimy green orb sailed over her shoulder, into the backseat, and straight into my lap.**

"EWWW!" Aphrodite and Demeter, mostly Aphrodite screamed loudly.

"DUDE! I DON'T THINK I CAN HEAR VERY WELL ANYMORE!" Connor yelled.

"STOP SCREAMING!" Percy shouted.

"WHAT? IM NOT SCREAMING" Connor screamed, causing Thalia to kick him hard out of his chair.

"Oh, I can hear much better, thanks Thalia!"

"No problem, Connor. Do I need to hit you again? Maybe this time with a little voltage" Thalia asked venomously, her electric blue eyes sparking.

"N-no, that's okay."

**I jumped so hard, my head hit the ceiling and the eyeball rolled away.**

**"I can't see!" all three sisters yelled.**

"Get ready for some Ka-boom!" Ares yelled excitedly. He was silenced by a glare from Poseidon, Nico and Athena.

**"Give me the eye!" Wasp wailed.**

**"Give her the eye!" Annabeth screamed.**

**"I don't have it!" I said.**

**"There, by your foot," Annabeth said. "Don't step on it! Get it!"**

**"I'm not picking that up!"**

"Wimp!" Ares called.

"It's a freaking eyeball!" Percy whined.

"I think… I'm going to be sick," Aphrodite shivered.

"No puking on us!" Artemis quickly said.

**The taxi slammed against the guardrail and skidded along with a horrible grinding noise. The whole car shuddered, billowing gray smoke as if it were about to dissolve from the strain.**

**"Going to be sick!" Tyson warned.**

**"Annabeth," I yelled, "let Tyson use your backpack!"**

**"Are you crazy?**

"Of course he is!" Connor and Travis said in unison.

**Get the eye!"**

**Wasp yanked the wheel, and the taxi swerved away from the rail. We hurtled down the bridge toward Brooklyn, going faster than any human taxi. The Gray Sisters screeched and pummeled each other and cried out for their eye.**

**At last I steeled my nerves. I ripped off a chunk of my tie-dyed T-shirt, which was already falling apart from all the burn marks, and used it to pick the eyeball off the floor.**

**"Nice boy!" Anger cried, as if she somehow knew I had her missing peeper. "Give it back!"**

**"Not until you explain," I told her. "What were you talking about, the location I seek?"**

**"No time!" Tempest cried. "Accelerating!"**

"You're all going to die!" Poseidon panicked.

"All thanks to you're sea spawn!" Athena scowled.

"He's trying to find out information," Poseidon weakly defended.

"While trying to get everyone killed!"

"Just… shut up!" Poseidon whined.

Athena smiled, knowing she won this battle.

"You do know that we survive...right?" Annabeth felt the need to mention.

**I looked out the window. Sure enough, trees and cars and whole neighborhoods were now zipping by in a gray blur. We were already out of Brooklyn, heading through the middle of Long Island.**

**"Percy," Annabeth warned, "they can't find our destination without the eye. We'll just keep accelerating until we break into a million pieces."**

**"First they have to tell me," I said. "Or I'll open the window and throw the eye into oncoming traffic."**

**"No!" the Gray Sisters wailed. "Too dangerous!"**

**"I'm rolling down the window."**

**"Wait!" the Gray Sisters screamed. "30, 31, 75, 12!"**

"Why does that sound vaguely familiar...?" Artemis wondered and Poseidon groaned.

"The Sea of Monsters. That's where their headed." He ground out and Athena sucked in a gasp looking at her daughter.

She's still alive, she made it out. She chanted to herself in her head.

While Nico chanted the same thing, but was talking about Percy.

They belted it out like a quarterback calling a play.

"What do you mean?" I said. "That makes no sense!"

"Exactly!" Travis smirked.

"Exactly what?" Percy groaned.

"I don't know, I just felt like saying that," Travis shrugged.

**"30, 31, 75, 12!" Anger wailed. "That's all we can tell you. Now give us the eye! Almost to camp!"**

**We were off the highway now, zipping through the countryside of northern Long Island. I could see Half-Blood Hill ahead of us, with its giant pine tree at the crest—Thalia's tree, which contained the life force or a fallen hero.**

"Ugh, I hate how I'm mentioned!' Thalia huffed.

Percy smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

"At least you are mentioned," Nico said.

"I didn't know about you yet! How am I supposed to mention you when I don't even know who you are?" Percy asked.

"You knew about Thalia," He said.

"Well, I was told about her. You, on the other hand, Grover dragged us into his rescue mission kind of last minute."

"Half-bloods," Hera muttered.

"Boys," Artemis said.

Hestia just laughed.

**"Percy!" Annabeth said more urgently. "Give them the eye now!"**

**I decided not to argue. I threw the eye into Wasp's lap.**

**The old lady snatched it up, pushed it into her eye socket like somebody putting in a contact lens, and blinked. "Whoa!"**

**She slammed on the brakes. The taxi spun four or five times in a cloud of smoke and squealed to a halt in the middle of the farm road at the base of Half-Blood Hill.**

**Tyson let loose a huge belch. "Better now."**

Everyone laughed.

**"All right," I told the Gray Sisters. "Now tell me what those numbers mean."**

**"No time!" Annabeth opened her door. "We have to get out now."**

"Why?" Hermes and Apollo asked sounding worried.

"The danger at camp," Aphrodite said with a gasp.

**I was about to ask why, when I looked up at Half-Blood Hill and understood.**

**At the crest of the hill was a group of campers. And they were under attack.**

"Oh, snap!" Apollo said.

"That's the end of the chapter," Hera muttered closing the book.

Suddenly a piece of paper appeared on a dark black pot in the middle of the room with a cloud of smoke.

"What the Hades?" Percy asked.

"Stop using my name!" Hades roared.

"Annoying isn't it?" Zeus asked Hades.

"At least your names get used. Nobody ever likes to say 'what the Poseidon,' or 'holy Poseidon.'"

"Sorry," Percy said as he picked up the paper.

"Dear Readers,

You've been granted the choice to bring people to read with you. For three days, you all will choose who will be with you each day. They will be able to stay for exactly one day each. Write down below who you wish to accompany you. Hurry, you only have three minutes to decide.

Day 1: _

Day 2: _

Day 3: _"

"Oh… cool!" Travis exclaimed.

"Okay, so basically we can choose one person each day to read with us…" Annabeth murmured.

"Hurry everyone! We only have exactly three minutes to decide," Percy panicked.

"Who says so?" Ares sneered.

"THE NOTE SAID SO!" Percy yelled. "Now, who should we pick?!"

"I say Grover!" Annabeth said, with Thalia agreeing.

"How about Silena?" Aphrodite suggested.

"Or Charlie." Hephaestus said happily.

The demigods looked sad and uncomfortable at the mention of those names. "Uh… Maybe,"

"Chris?"

"CLARISSE WILL OWN ALL!" Ares shouted. "CHOOSE HER!"

"Will Solace?"

"Cereal! Oh, how about Katie?"

Nico cleared his throat hesitantly. "Does Bianca count?"

"I'm not really sure," Percy said.

"Send any brat you want, its not like I care." Dionysus flipped through his 'God Weekly' magazine. "Oh, that wine looks particularly stunning… 973 years old…"

Zeus growled.

"I was just getting some for you, father." Dionysus innocently sighed, throwing his magazine which landed on Connors head.

"Ouch, why is this magazine soaking wet and smells like wine?" Connor asked curiously, making Dionysus smile sheepishly.

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT NAME TO WRITE!" Percy whined, "A minute and a half left!"

"Oh, jeez," Nico muttered.

"Okay, Chris is out because the Hermes cabin already has Connor and Travis. No Athena, Poseidon, Zeus, Hades, Artemis, Hestia or Dionysus. That leaves… Will, Clarisse, Beckendorf, Grover, Silena, or Katie."

"Let's choose Grover! He's relevant to the story!" Annabeth said.

"But Will is so much cooler!" Apollo argued.

"Silena is so pretty… just like me!" none other than Aphrodite exclaimed.

"Write down Clarisse, she can totally own everyone!"

"Except for me," Percy muttered.

"Charlie Beckendorf is suitable," Hephaestus mumbled quietly.

Half a minute left…

"Write down Grover!"

"NO! Clarisse!"

"Will is so hot, pick him."

"Weird how you just called your son hot."

Fifteen seconds left…

Percy hurriedly scribbled down names on the paper. Five… Four… Three… Two… One…

As soon as he finished, the paper disappeared. Zero…

"Guys, it's done…" Percy told everyone, who stopped arguing.

"WHAT!" Everyone shouted.

"We only had five seconds left so unless you want no one to come at all, I wrote down some names," Percy explained.

"So who'd you pick?" Everyone asked eagerly.

"I'm not going to tell until they appear," Percy said.

"I say we pummel him to death!" Ares shouted.

"We will not do that to my son!" Poseidon shouted. "No matter how much we want to know who is coming,"

POOF!

"At 10:00 a.m, the listed person(s) will appear in front of the black pot in front of you. Everyone must be gathered by this time."

"So, I guess we should rest for tomorrow," Percy said nervously.

"Yeah… everyone is dismissed," Zeus boomed. "Make sure to meet here before 10:00 a.m tomorrow!"

"This isn't over, punk!" Ares hissed. "You better have picked Clarisse."

Percy gulped. He received many questions and threats that night.


	4. Chapter 4

"I wonder how they're supposed to fit into this pot," Percy muttered.

"Maybe they're going to be made into stew!" Connor exclaimed.

"Connor, please stop saying stuff and ruining the anticipation," Thalia murmured.

"But –"

"What is everyone looking at?" a guy's voice sounded behind everyone.

"Oh Charlie, you're so casual!" a girl giggled.

Everyone whirled around fast to see Silena Beauregard and Charles Beckendorf standing together at the edge of the room.

"OH –"

"MY –"

"GODS –"

"Just seeing you guys wants to make me cry," Silena sniffed.

"BECKENDORF! I never got to say I'm sorry!" Percy tackled a laughing Beckendorf to the ground. "I thought I'd never see you again…" Percy's voice got quieter, until he looked like he was going to cry.

All the goddesses and gods were shocked. Who knew Percy was so close to Beckendorf?

"Chill, Percy. You don't need to apologize." Beckendorf gently patted Percy on the back.

"Dude, everyone at camp missed you! It was no fun without our Hephaestus guy," Travis and Connor said in unison.

"I see you two are still close as twins," Beckendorf laughed, than turned to Thalia and Annabeth. "No greetings from you two?"

Thalia took a deep breath, and gave a huge smile. "We missed you…"

"You were the heart and the head of cabin 9," Annabeth grinned.

Nico cleared his throat. "Nice to see ya,"

"Same," Beckendorf grinned, then did that weird handshake guys do.

Hephaestus uncomfortably went up and gave a handshake, which turned into a hug.

"Hello son,"

"Hey dad," Beckendorf's voice was muffled because he was hugging his dad tightly.

Everyone turned to Silena and stared at her, except for Aphrodite, who ran right up and gave a tight squeeze. "You look so pretty, darling. My baby girl's all grown up."

"Thanks mom," Silena whispered, looking like she was about to cry. Then she did cry. "I'm so sorry, guys."

All the demigods suddenly broke into a wide grin and gave her a big hug, to which she began laughing through her tears.

"Silena, nice to see you," Thalia quickly wiped a stray tear from her cheek.

"We understood how you felt," Percy quietly said. "Just know that we'll be your friends through thick or thin."

"I never thought I'd see the day where Percy gets sappy," Thalia laughed.

"I never thought I'd see the day where Thalia cries," Percy retorted.

"Me either," Thalia admitted. "I hardly ever cry. That means your special to us, Silena."

"And I'm lucky to have friends like you."

"Sorry, but could I ask why we're on Olympus?" Beckendorf asked.

"Apollo, I think you should record what we say so we don't have to repeat ourselves two more times." Percy joked.

"Okay!" Apollo whipped out a golden video camera and said: "Lights," the lights dimmed. "Camera," everyone heard the little ding signalling that the camera was ready. "ACTION!"

"He didn't mean it literally… But whatever," Thalia said.

"Wait..." Silena said. "Why is Lord Apollo silver? I thought that was Lady Artemis' color...?"

"It is," the gods said.

"Hermes and Apollo are still learning not to mess with my stuff." Artemis said.

"Okay, then." Beckendorf laughed.

"Alright, so we have been sent into the past to read some books about Percy's adventures with the gods and goddesses. During the session, there are notes that pop up out of nowhere, and the last one said that we could invite some people." Annabeth said all in one breath.

"They were all arguing about who to choose, and so I just wrote both of your names, hoping that you both would come, because we all missed you," Percy continued.

"Aww, that's so sweet!" Silena squealed.

"Yeah, thanks Perce," Beckendorf said.

"So…" Silena poked Percy.

"What? Why are you poking me?"

"I heard you and Nico are dating!" Silena jumped up and down.

"Oh… uh yeah," Percy cautiously took a step back from the hyper girl.

"Oh mom, I knew Nicery would be the ultimate couple!"

"They are totally better than Helen and Troy!" Aphrodite cooed with Silena.

"Does this mean another Trojan war?" Connor asked.

"I certainly hope not," Percy gulped.

"Okay, we're going to continue reading," Zeus interrupted.

"Okay," everyone agreed, and sat down.

"I'll start," Thalia said.

**"Tyson Plays with Fire,"** Thalia read.

"Yeah, go, Tyson!" Connor said.

Hera shook her head in disapproval. "Children should know better than to play with fire."

"Hera," Percy said. "We play with bombs and swords in our spare time. It's not like we do it on purpose, it's just a hazard of being a Demigod."

"Someone's bitter," Aphrodite whispered to Silena.

"I know right? She should totally get some love in her life." Silena whispered back.

"Too bad she has Lord Zeus," Aphrodite pouted.

**Mythologically speaking, if there's anything I hate worse than trios of old ladies, it's bulls.**

"BULL HATER!" Connor yelled. "What's wrong with you? Why such a bull hater?"

"Well, nothing really," Percy said nonchalantly. "Except for the fact that the Minotaur tried to kill me."

"That's no reason to start hating on bulls, man. Not cool!"

"Actually, that is a very good reason," Annabeth rolled her eyes.

**Last summer, I fought the Minotaur on top of Half-Blood Hill. This time what I saw up there was even worse: two bulls. And not just regular bulls—bronze ones the size of elephants. And even that wasn't bad enough. Naturally they had to breathe fire, too.**

"Bronze fire-breathing bulls that are the size of elephants?" Nico asked. "Where was I? Why wasn't I there?"

"You were probably wandering around, eventually getting to Westover Academy. It was the summer before we found you . . . so . . ."

"O-oh okay," Nico said, thinking of that last summer with his sister. Percy wrapped his arms around him, know full and well what Nico was thinking about.

"I KNOW RIGHT! Oh man, that must be so awesome!" Travis and Connor said.

Annabeth snorted, "You two were there. You know that, right?"

"You know, It's not very cool if you're being fried by it," Silena said.

"Stop looking on the negative side!" Connor whined.

"You're right," Thalia said, agreeing with Silena. "It's not cool at all, but it is pretty darn hot."

"I'm kind of confused," Beckendorf said.

"Oh, well… In the last few chapters, Percy was at school with Tyson when they were attacked by Cannibal giants and than Annabeth saved them and now they just arrived at camp half-blood." Thalia explained.

"Wow…" was all he had to say.

**As soon as we exited the taxi, the Gray Sisters peeled out, heading back to New York, where life was safer. They didn't even wait for their extra three-drachma payment.**

"If those crazy ladies are scared, than I'm really nervous…" Poseidon said. "You're lucky you came out of this alive, Perseus."

"You had to say my full name?" Percy pouted.

"It's fun to tease him, isn't it?" Annabeth laughed.

"Yup," everyone chorused.

"Wow, thanks, guys. Not like I tried to save you or anything," Percy muttered.

"Aww, poor Percy," Silena cooed.

**They just left us on the side of the road, Annabeth with nothing but her backpack and knife, Tyson and me still in our burned-up tie-dyed gym clothes.**

**"Oh, man," said Annabeth, looking at the battle raging on the hill.**

**What worried me most weren't the bulls themselves. Or the ten heroes in full battle armor who were getting their bronze-plated booties whooped. What worried me was that the bulls were ranging all over the hill, even around the back side of the pine tree.**

"WHAT?!" some people shouted.

"They got through the barriers!" Nico shouted as Thalia flinched.

"Well, this must have been an interesting summer," Thalia laughed half-heartedly.

"You should know," Annabeth said.

"Yeah, you were there for half of it," Percy said.

Thalia rolled her eyes.

"Good luck fighting those bulls," Athena said. "You shouldn't have a problem if you have Medea's 50,000 SPF sunscreen."

**That shouldn't have been possible. The camp's magic boundaries didn't allow monsters to cross past Thalia's tree.**

"What's wrong with Thalia?" Zeus bit his lip, but no one answered him.

**But the metal bulls were doing it anyway.**

**One of the heroes shouted, "Border patrol, to me!" A girl's voice—gruff and familiar. Border patrol? I thought. The camp didn't have a border patrol.**

"Or did they…" Apollo said ominously.

"They don't," Annabeth stated. "Not when you have Thalia,"

"You make me sound like thing to be used," Thalia muttered.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that," Annabeth apologized. "You're a really, really good guardian. That's all I meant."

Thalia smiled and nodded.

**"It's Clarisse," Annabeth said. "Come on, we have to help her."**

**Normally, rushing to Clarisse's aid would not have been high on my "to do" list. She was one of the biggest bullies at camp. The first time we'd met she tried to introduce my head to a toilet.**

Silena giggled at that. "That's Clarisse." She smiled fondly at the memory of her old friend.

**She was also a daughter of Ares, and I'd had a very serious disagreement with her father last summer, so now the god of war and all his children basically hated my guts.**

"You sure have a lot of haters out there," Nico commented.

"Yup, because I just rock like that," Percy laughed.

"Are you sure it's not just because your so infuriating?" Thalia suggested.

"Nah," Percy dismissed.

"Percy sure does have a big ego," Silena laughed.

"Me? Ego? No way!" Percy pouted.

**Still, she was in trouble. Her fellow warriors were scattering, running in panic as the bulls charged. The grass was burning in huge swathes around the pine tree. One hero screamed and waved his arms as he ran in circles, the horse hair plume on his helmet blazing like a fiery Mohawk.**

Everyone managed to laugh, even with Ares glaring.

**Clarisse's own armor was charred. She was fighting with a broken spear shaft, the other end embedded uselessly in the metal joint of one bull's shoulder.**

"Those won't work on these," Hephaestus said. "My automatons won't die that easily, but why they're there, I don't know, so don't you dare look at me that way Poseidon."

Percy snickered at his dad's expression.

**I uncapped my ballpoint pen. It shimmered, growing longer and heavier until I held the bronze sword Anaklusmos in my hands. "Tyson, stay here. I don't want you taking any more chances."**

Everyone rolled their eyes.

"But," Silena said, "Tyson's a cyclopes, right?" They nodded and Percy sighed. "Aren't cyclopes immune to fire? I thought they worked in Hephaestus' forges and such..."

"They do," Hephaestus smiled.

"I just didn't know Tyson was a cyclopes yet." Percy said. "I didn't know what he could do."

"You're so sweet," Silena said. "A little slow at times, but you care about the people around you."

**"No!" Annabeth said. "We need him."**

"I suddenly wished I listened to Annabeth," Percy groaned

"Everyone does at some point," Thalia sighed.

"That's right," Annabeth said proudly.

**I stared at her. "He's mortal. He got lucky with the dodge balls but he can't—"**

"You know, I still don't get how you didn't know he was a Cyclopes," Nico said.

"Yeah, he was catching flaming dodgeballs!" Thalia exclaimed.

"I guess I just wasn't paying attention," Percy sighed.

"That's new," Thalia and Nico said.

**"Percy, do you know what those are up there? The Colchis bulls, made by Hephaestus himself. We can't fight them without Medea's Sunscreen SPF 50,000. We'll get burned to a crisp."**

**"Medea's what?"**

**Annabeth rummaged through her backpack and cursed. "I had a jar of tropical coconut scent sitting on my night-stand at home. Why didn't I bring it?"**

"And I thought Annabeth was ready for anything," Connor shook his head in disappointment.

"I usually am!" Annabeth tugged a strand of her curly hair in frustration.

"Oh, I think I had some in my cabin," Silena spoke up.

"Really?" everyone asked incredulously.

"I can't have my skin burnt!"

"Well I guess that makes sense. Regular people have SPF 45 while we have SPF 50,000." Thalia chuckled.

**I'd learned a long time ago not to question Annabeth too much. It just made me more confused. "Look, I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm not going to let Tyson get fried."**

"Like father like son," Athena grumbled. "You two have similar minds,"

"Thank you," Poseidon and Percy simultaneously.

"That's an insult!"

"I'm just going to take it as a compliment," Percy decided.

Athena looked like she was going to pull her hair out as Percy and Poseidon high-fived each other.

"Looks like you can even infuriate my mother," Annabeth laughed.

"When wouldn't I be able to?" Percy asked. "I've been able to tick off almost every god in here."

That left the Olympians wondering what he did to anger them.

**"Percy—"**

**"Tyson, stay back." I raised my sword. "I'm going in."**

**Tyson tried to protest, but I was already running up the hill toward Clarisse, who was yelling at her patrol, trying to get them into phalanx formation.**

"Not what I would have gone with, but I highly doubt it will not work against the bulls." Athena muttered and Annabeth nodded her agreement.

**It was a good idea. The few who were listening lined up shoulder-to-shoulder, locking their shields to form an ox-hide—and-bronze wall, their spears bristling over the top like porcupine quills.**

**Unfortunately, Clarisse could only muster six campers. The other four were still running around with their helmets on fire.**

"Stupid people, they should've just listened to Clarisse!" Annabeth huffed.

**Annabeth ran toward them, trying to help. She taunted one of the bulls into chasing her, then turned invisible, completely confusing the monster. The other bull charged Clarisse's line.**

No one noticed Ares wince except for Percy.

**I was halfway up the hill—not close enough to help. Clarisse hadn't even seen me yet.**

**The bull moved deadly fast for something so big. Its metal hide gleamed in the sun. It had fist-sized rubies for eyes, and horns of polished silver. When it opened its hinged mouth, a column of white-hot flame blasted out.**

**"Hold the line!" Clarisse ordered her warriors.**

**Whatever else you could say about Clarisse, she was brave.**

"You know it," all the demigods agreed as Ares looked proud.

**She was a big girl with cruel eyes like her father's. She looked like she was born to wear Greek battle armor, but I didn't see how even she could stand against that bull's charge.**

**Unfortunately, at that moment, the other bull lost interest in finding Annabeth. It turned, wheeling around behind Clarisse on her unprotected side.**

**"Behind you!" I yelled. "Look out!"**

**I shouldn't have said anything, because all I did was startle her. Bull Number One crashed into her shield, and the phalanx broke. Clarisse went flying backward and landed in a smoldering patch of grass. The bull charged past her, but not before blasting the other heroes with its fiery breath. Their shields melted right off their arms. They dropped their weapons and ran as Bull Number Two closed in on Clarisse for the kill.**

"What happened to leave no man behind?" Nico shouted.

"Apparently that doesn't include women," Apollo said before he got hit hard by a bunch of people.

"What a bunch of wimps," Ares growled.

**I lunged forward and grabbed Clarisse by the straps of her armor. I dragged her out of the way just as Bull Number Two freight-trained past. I gave it a good swipe with Riptide and cut a huge gash in its flank, but the monster just creaked and groaned and kept on going.**

"Percy, don't die," Poseidon muttered nervously.

**It hadn't touched me, but I could feel the heat of its metal skin. Its body temperature could've microwaved a frozen burrito.**

"Good to know for when I don't have a microwave handy," Connor noted.

"You probably wouldn't have a fire bull handy either," Thalia smirked.

**"Let me go!" Clarisse pummelled my hand. "Percy, curse you!"**

"He was just trying to save you!" Poseidon shouted.

"Just remember it's a book," Annabeth said.

**I dropped her in a heap next to the pine tree and turned to face the bulls. We were on the inside slope of the hill now, the valley of Camp Half-Blood directly below us—the cabins, the training facilities, the Big House—all of it at risk if these bulls got past us.**

"How'd they get in though…?" Hermes mumbled.

"I wouldn't let them get that far," Dionysus muttered, though only Zeus heard him. "No one will destroy the camp like that while I'm there."

**Annabeth shouted orders to the other heroes, telling them to spread out and keep the bulls distracted.**

"That's my girl," Athena said and Annabeth beamed.

**Bull Number One ran a wide arc, making its way back toward me. As it passed the middle of the hill, where the invisible boundary line should've kept it out, it slowed down a little, as if it were struggling against a strong wind; but then it broke through and kept coming. Bull Number Two turned to face me, fire sputtering from the gash I'd cut in its side. I couldn't tell if it felt any pain, but its ruby eyes seemed to glare at me like I'd just made things personal.**

"Well, you know… You just swiped at him, so I guess he would be pretty mad," Apollo said.

**I couldn't fight both bulls at the same time. I'd have to take down Bull Number Two first, cut its head off before Bull Number One charged back into range. My arms already felt tired. I realized how long it had been since I'd worked out with Riptide, how out of practice I was.**

"Great, just fantabulous!" Thalia said sarcastically.

"Fantabulous?" Nico stifled a laugh.

"Whatever, Di Angelo,"

"Doesn't that mean angel or something?" Apollo asked.

"Yeah, so?" Nico said.

"Well, technically it means of angels but whatever," Thalia said, causing Annabeth to give her a side long glance.

"Kind of ironic how you're Hades' kid," Hephaestus commented.

"It's not ironic at all!" Nico huffed. He had this argument too many times.

"Sure," Hermes and Apollo both chuckled.

**I lunged but Bull Number Two blew flames at me.**

"Don't worry, dad," Percy said raising his hand slightly. "For starters, I'm still alive. And plus, I'm a little more durable than others since water flows through my veins with my blood."

"How did you find that one out?" Hermes and Apollo asked extremely curious.

"Don't. Answer. That." Poseidon and Nico gritted his teeth in fear.

"Oh, I won't have to, you'll find out ... I think it was next summer."

**I rolled aside as the air turned to pure heat. All the oxygen was sucked out of my lungs. My foot caught on some thing—a tree root, maybe—and pain shot up my ankle. Still, I managed to slash with my sword and lop off part of the monster's snout. It galloped away, wild and disoriented. But before I could feel too good about that, I tried to stand, and my left leg buckled underneath me. My ankle was sprained, maybe broken.**

"Oh gods, that's not good at all," Thalia muttered.

Poseidon looked really nervous but he didn't say anything.

**Bull Number One charged straight toward me. No way could I crawl out of its path.**

**Annabeth shouted: "Tyson, help him!"**

**Somewhere near, toward the crest of the hill, Tyson wailed, "Can't—get—through!"**

**"I, Annabeth Chase, give you permission to enter camp!"**

"You gave a cyclops permission to enter Camp Half-Blood?" Zeus, Athena, and Dionysus asked.

"Percy was going to die if she didn't!" Poseidon said.

"Thanks, Lord Poseidon," Annabeth said. "And, Tyson's not you're average cyclopes . . . he's . . . sweet."

Thalia slowly nodded her head in agreement. She didn't love Tyson, but she didn't hate him either.

**Thunder shook the hillside. Suddenly Tyson was there, barrelling toward me, yelling: "Percy needs help!"**

Everyone laughed.

**Before I could tell him no, he dove between me and the bull just as it unleashed a nuclear firestorm.**

**"Tyson!" I yelled.**

**The blast swirled around him like a red tornado. I could only see the black silhouette of his body. I knew with horrible certainty that my friend had just been turned into a column of ashes.**

Almost everyone looked at Percy with a remind-me-never-to-listen-to-you look.

"How should I know that Tyson was fire-resistant?" Percy defended.

"Well, he did catch flaming dodgeballs, but other than that, I guess you wouldn't know," Nico said.

**But when the fire died, Tyson was still standing there, completely unharmed. Not even his grungy clothes were scorched. The bull must've been as surprised as I was, because before it could unleash a second blast, Tyson balled his fists and slammed them into the bull's face. "BAD COW!"**

"Very bad cow!" Poseidon agreed.

Everyone laughed.

"Tyson is just an awesome Cyclopes, isn't he," Travis laughed.

"Yeah," Percy said with a hint of sadness. "The best,"

**His fists made a crater where the bronze bull's snout used to be. Two small columns of flame shot out of its ears. Tyson hit it again, and the bronze crumpled under his hands like aluminum foil. The bull's face now looked like a sock puppet pulled inside out.**

"I really wanna see the bull's face now," Apollo and everyone else laughed.

"Now wouldn't really do any good, Apollo," Hermes said. "Their from the future, the bulls would look like normal right now."

"Gee, thanks, Hermes, way to pop my bubble."

Hermes made a popping sound, causing the others to laugh.

**"Down!" Tyson yelled.**

**The bull staggered and fell on its back. Its legs moved feebly in the air, steam coming out of its ruined head in odd places. Annabeth ran over to check on me. My ankle felt like it was filled with acid, but she gave me some Olympian nectar to drink from her canteen, and I immediately started to feel better. There was a burning smell that I later learned was me. The hair on my arms had been completely singed off.**

"Percy got baked," Nico joked.

"More like fried," Thalia supplied.

"You guys can just say burned," Annabeth said.

"Percy got baked, fried and burned," Connor and Travis snickered.

"Yes, thanks for telling me," Percy rolled his eyes.

**"The other bull?" I asked.**

**Annabeth pointed down the hill. Clarisse had taken care of Bad Cow Number Two. She'd impaled it through the back leg with a celestial bronze spear. Now, with its snout half gone and a huge gash in its side, it was trying to run in slow motion, going in circles like some kind of merry-go-round animal.**

**Clarisse pulled off her helmet and marched toward us. A strand of her stringy brown hair was smoldering, but she didn't seem to notice. "You—ruin—everything!" she yelled at me. "I had it under control!"**

"No she didn't," Connor and Travis said, earning a growl from Ares.

"How did Percy ruin everything? He saved you!" Thalia yelled angrily at the book.

No one dared say anything.

**I was too stunned to answer. Annabeth grumbled, "Good to see you too, Clarisse."**

**"Argh!" Clarisse screamed. "Don't ever, EVER try saving me again!"**

**"Clarisse," Annabeth said, "you've got wounded campers."**

**That sobered her up. Even Clarisse cared about the soldiers under her command.**

**"I'll be back," she growled, then trudged off to assess the damage.**

**I stared at Tyson. "You didn't die."**

"Well, that was blunt," Beckendorf grinned.

"What can I say, I'm a blunt guy," Percy laughed.

"No you aren't!" Hermes frowned. "Sometimes, you're just so cryptic that I want to strangle you!"

"Good to know that another god wants to kill me," Percy said sarcastically causing Poseidon groaned.

**Tyson looked down like he was embarrassed. "I am sorry. Came to help. Disobeyed you."**

"Aw, that's cute!" Aphrodite said. "And sad, you shouldn't make him feel bad for disobeying you."

**"My fault," Annabeth said. "I had no choice. I had to let Tyson cross the boundary line to save you. Otherwise, you would've died."**

**"Let him cross the boundary line?'" I asked. "But—"**

**"Percy," she said, "have you ever looked at Tyson closely? I mean ... in the face. Ignore the Mist, and really look at him."**

**The Mist makes humans see only what their brains can process ... I knew it could fool demigods too, but... I looked Tyson in the face. It wasn't easy. I'd always had trouble looking directly at him, though I'd never quite understood why. I'd thought it was just because he always had peanut butter in his crooked teeth.**

A couple people snorted and a few chuckled.

**I forced myself to focus at his big lumpy nose, then a little higher at his eyes.**

**No, not eyes.**

**One eye. One large, calf-brown eye, right in the middle of his forehead, with thick lashes and big tears trickling down his cheeks on either side.**

**"Tyson," I stammered. "You're a ..."**

**"Cyclops," Annabeth offered. "A baby, by the looks of him. Probably why he couldn't get past the boundary line as easily as the bulls. Tyson's one of the homeless orphans."**

**"Wait, a homeless Cyclopes that's an orphan?"**

"Yeah, they're homeless until they find their way to a forge." Poseidon said and Hephaestus grunted his agreement.

**"One of the what?"**

**"They're in almost all the big cities," Annabeth said distastefully. "They're ... mistakes, Percy.**

"Brother," Hera turned sharply to Poseidon.

"I…uh…" Poseidon looked ashamed.

"He's not a mistake," Percy grimaced. "At least not anymore,"

"I like Tyson," Beckendorf agreed. "He's awesome in the forges and a really big softie at heart,"

"Aww, that was so sweet!" Silena hugged Beckendorf.

I am so glad they're together, Aphrodite thought cheerfully.

**Children of nature spirits and gods ... Well, one god in particular, usually ... and they don't always come out right. No one wants them. They get tossed aside. They grow up wild on the streets. I don't know how this one found you, but he obviously likes you. We should take him to Chiron, let him decide what to do."**

**"But the fire. How—"**

**"He's a Cyclops." Annabeth paused, as if she were remembering something unpleasant.**

Annabeth and Thalia grimaced.

**"They work the forges of the gods. They have to be immune to fire. That's what I was trying to tell you."**

**I was completely shocked. How had I never realized what Tyson was?**

"It's okay Percy," Thalia said. "We all knew you were oblivious."

"Was that supposed to make me feel better?" Percy grumbled.

"Hey, that's as close as a compliment you'll get from Thalia," Annabeth said. "Be grateful."

"Well, thanks I guess," Percy shrugged.

"You're so lucky; my compliment from Thalia was 'Emo people aren't hated in the world, Nico. You don't need to deny it anymore,'" Nico mimicked as everyone laughed nonstop.

"Haha, hilarious!" Connor choked out before laughing again.

"But seriously, it's true!" Thalia smirked. "No need to deny the truth!"

"I'm not emo! I just like the color black a lot." Percy smirked.

"You know, you're favourite color should be pink!" Aphrodite smiled widely.

"Not going to happen. EVER." Nico wrinkled his nose in disgust.

**But I didn't have much time to think about it just then. The whole side of the hill was burning. Wounded heroes needed attention. And there were still two banged-up bronze bulls to dispose of, which I didn't figure would fit in our normal recycling bins.**

"Give it to us! The Hephaestus cabin could reuse it!" Beckendorf suggested.

"I could just imagine Grover hugging Beckendorf and screaming about how at least some mortals recycle." Percy grinned.

"What did ever happen to them?" Travis asked.

"If I remember right, we put them somewhere in the woods." Annabeth said.

**Clarisse came back over and wiped the soot off her forehead. "Jackson, if you can stand, get up. We need to carry the wounded back to the Big House, let Tantalus know what's happened."**

"Surely not Tantalus," Poseidon and Athena muttered.

"That will be a very entertaining summer," Dionysus chuckled darkly.

**"Tantalus?" I asked.**

**"The activities director," Clarisse said impatiently.**

**"Chiron is the activities director. And where's Argus? He's head of security. He should be here."**

**Clarisse made a sour face. "Argus got fired. You two have been gone too long. Things are changing."**

"WHAT?!" lots of people yelled.

"Oh darn, Chiron was my trusted man!" Hermes whined.

"CHIRON! HE WAS SO YOUNG," Apollo dramatically shouted.

"He was, like, over 3000 years old," Percy looked at Apollo oddly.

"Get over it," Ares grumbled.

"But… Argus was like so cool with his billion eyes and he used to always catch me stealing cookies in the… nevermind." Nico trailed off.

Everyone looked suspiciously at Nico but otherwise said nothing.

**"But Chiron ... He's trained kids to fight monsters for over three thousand years. He can't just be gone. What happened?"**

**"That happened," Clarisse snapped.**

**She pointed to Thalia's tree.**

"Oh gods, here comes my story." Thalia groaned while Zeus sat up a little higher and cocked his head

**Every camper knew the story behind the tree. Six years ago, Grover, Annabeth, and two other demigods named Thalia and Luke**

Hermes flinched at his son's name while the demigods looked incredibly sad.

**had come to Camp Half-Blood chased by an army of monsters. When they got cornered on top of this hill, Thalia, a daughter of Zeus, had made her last stand here to give her friends time to reach safety. As she was dying, her father, Zeus, took pity on her and changed her into a pine tree.**

Zeus saddened at the memory, but at the same time, determined. He knew that Thalia was going to be well once again.

**Her spirit had reinforced the magic borders of the camp, protecting it from monsters. The pine had been here ever since, strong and healthy.**

**But now, its needles were yellow. A huge pile of dead ones littered the base of the tree. In the center of the trunk, three feet from the ground, was a puncture mark the size of a bullet hole, oozing green sap.**

Lots of people looked at her sympathetically as Thalia shivered, remembering that time.

"What happened?" Zeus asked frantically.

"You'll just have to wait and read," Percy responded.

Zeus growled, but didn't ask anymore questions. Darn son of Poseidon,

"How did it feel?" Connor asked.

"Dude, how insensitive are you!" Nico yelled at Connor. "Clearly, this is a bad time to ask that stupid question!" Knowing that Thalia might just shock Connor with lightning very badly.

"S-sorry," Connor stuttered.

Thalia took a deep, shaky breath. "It's fine, and Connor, it felt horrible. Every second, feeling yourself withering away, slowly perishing."

A sliver of ice ran through my chest. Now I understood why the camp was in danger. The magical borders were failing because Thalia's tree was dying.

**Someone had poisoned it.**

Whoever did this, will pay, Zeus thought darkly.

"That's the end of the chapter," Thalia muttered, throwing the book to Connor.

"Why don't we take a break and have some lunch," Zeus suggested, looking at Thalia's bitter state.

"Good idea," Athena murmured.


	5. Artemis Gets Back At Apollo & Hermes

Artemis POV:

I sat in the throne room for a bit longer just talking with Hermes for a little bit. Before long I grew bored and bid everyone left a goodnight. As I walked down the hall, I held a star in my hand and sent a message to my hunters.

"...and my dear Zoe, don't let any of my new hunters feed the wolves until I return; they aren't used to them yet. . . " I trailed off. "Await my orders, I will be in touch shortly." The star flew down the hallway and out of sight. I'd finally reached my resting quarters. What caught my attention right away when I got to it was a not written in gold directly on the door:

Your brother, you love,

You simply show it strangely.

Look within, you'll find...

I rolled my eyes. Only Apollo could come up with something like that, what worried me was the symbol of Hermes. Apollo alone was bad enough, but the two of them working together? Talk about trouble.

I tried to open the door slowly, but 'slowly' wouldn't let it budge. Uh-oh. I tried a little more force. I managed to get it open about an inch. After a third attempt the door swung open and I was immediately showered by gold dust. "Aaah!" I screamed.

I stepped further into my room to get away from the incessant golden rain. Unfortunately, stepping farther into my room caused me to run right into a trip wire – which served it's purpose... yes, it tripped me... - and to fall forward onto my hands on the floor. I used the momentum to swing my legs above me and over my head back down to the floor.

I stood and surveyed the catastrophic war zone that was my room. Apollo and Hermes had managed to cover everything – and I mean everything, from floor, to ceiling, etc. - in gold and blue, the majority being gold. It covered my silver – well used to be silver – bow and quiver. My ceiling no longer had visible constellations on it either. They had covered my stars with little suns, and around the suns, like little blue rays were miniature caducei.

"They will not last through the night," I muttered darkly, trying to find my way through the blinding glare of gold. Finally, I gave up and turned out the lights, closed my eyes, and gathered a few stars. When I opened my eyes, there were still suns on my walls and ceiling, but not nearly as many.

I gazed at my hands and arms. They were still covered in gold. I shook my head in disgust and dismay and gold flecks fell from my hair as well.

I grabbed a change of clothes (I had locked them in a drawer that only I could open – I had it made by Hephaestus), and my bow and arrow, and my hunting belt. I took off down the hall.

I tried to think of who to go to first, who would be most likely to help me out. I figured I could go with Athena and Poseidon. As much as they hate each other, they both love me. I made my way toward Athena's library first, trying to stay out of sight as much as possible.

-Third Person-

*knock knock knock*

Athena stopped feeding her beloved owl and walked to the door. She opened it and gasped.

"Artemis?" Athena asked, a hand covering her mouth. The slender young maiden was covered head to toe in gold powder, sparkling like Apollo's chariot.

Artemis looked up at Athena with an evil grin. "I need to ask you a bit of a favor," She said. "May I come in?"

"Of course! Come in," Athena said, ushering her through the main library part and into her bedroom. She looked over Artemis once again and shook her head. "Let me guess: Apollo did this?" Artemis' silver eyes glinted harshly telling Athena she was dead on. "I'll give you a minute to change, come out when you're dressed; I want to know what happened."

Not too long after Athena settled herself into one of the chairs at her desk to study her war figurines, Artemis came walking up. She looked as if she were only a thirteen year-old, yet she was dressed in a silver and white flowing dress like they used to wear. It had a flowing partial sleeve that was open on the inside and connected to her bracelets on each arm. She had her hair pulled back into an open ponytail that let her long hair – still specked with gold – spill from the back of her head like a gracefull waterfall.

"Come, sit down and let's see what we can do about Apollo's latest trick," Athena said.

"Okay," Artemis said. "Well it wasn't just Apollo this time."

"Hermes joined in as well? And if Hermes joined in, his sons were in on it too." Athena's eyes widened. "This can't have been good."

Artemis shook her head with a wicked smile. "And they left their mark too. Over everything." Athena waved her on. "I was sending a message to Zoe, my current chief lieutenant, when I got to my room. The door had an Apollo original poem written in gold on the door. It wouldn't open without using a lot of force and when it did open it dumped a flood of some gold glitter mixture all over me! My entire room was gold with blue streaks.

"You know my ceiling? It has stars on it, the kind you could only see before the stupid mortals polluted the skies. Each and every star's light was covered by a sun spot with little blue caducei sprouting out of them."

Athena listened as Artemis spilled out her story and continued to go over the details of what the boys had done. When she had finished, she looked at Athena and said, "This is why I need you: I need a plan to get back at them, and seeing as how they keep annoying you as well, I thought we could pull a little group of our own together and go after them."

Athena smiled. Seeing Hermes and Apollo have a taste of their own medicine might not be too bad, she thought. "Sure. I'll help." Artemis smiled brightly. "Who else were you thinking of having help out with this little...scheme?"

Artemis smiled a cruel smile and said one word: "Poseidon."

-Artemis Pov-

Getting Athena was simple enough. Now to get my favorite uncle to work with Athena might be a little more challenging, but he likes me enough that he should be able to get over it.

I decided to go for the innocent-little-girl-who-was-tricked-by-her-brothers game, so I ruffled my hair and put on my hurt expression.

I ran up to his temple; he didn't have a room since he has a palace in the sea. He was talking with Amphitrite, via Iris Messaging. He looked at me and I heard him mutter 'I love you' to her and saw him turn away as the mist evaporated.

"Artemis! What's wrong?"

"I need you're help, Uncle Poseidon!" I said, "Hermes and Apollo pulled a trick on me."

He smiled. "Again?" he muttered to himself. "What did they do this time?"

I told him what they did and showed him the gold sparkles still stuck in my hair and still making some of my skin sparkle gold. He laughed at first but I silenced him with one of my cold looks.

"I'm sorry, Artemis," he said. "So why do you need my help?"

I told him my plan to get back at them. "...and I thought you might like to help because they keep making fun of Percy and I could really use some water tricks." I smiled up at him like I used to do when I was really young. He chuckled and rubbed my arm.

"Sure," he said. "Who else is going to help? Or is it just us?"

"Well, I figured we could get Percy involved, Thalia will help, seeing as she's my lieutenant now, and Nico, seeing as they're both dating, and they try to do everything together.

Meet in my room in fifteen minutes with Perseus."

-Third Pov-

Artemis was seated on her bed, talking with Thalia, when she heard Athena knock on her door. "Come in!" she called.

Athena came in followed by Nico, Percy, and Poseidon.

They stared in wonder at Artemis room. Granted, most of it was still covered, but it was slowly recovering; Percy could see numerous constellations on the ceiling poking around the miniature suns. He could also see the stunning silver walls behind streaks of gold sparkle.

"Okay," Artemis said with a mischievous grin. "Thanks for coming!"

All of the demigods sat together on one side of the bed as the gods settled themselves around the other side.

"Um, you're welcome?" Percy said.

Nico smacked his head. "Our pleasure, my Lady," he said politely.

"What are we doing again?" Percy asked.

"We're going to prank Hermes and Apollo," Thalia said.

"So here's the plan," Artemis said, glancing toward Athena who nodded. "Poseidon, you're going to start out distracting Hermes and Apollo. We need to get them down to the amphitheater. Okay?" Poseidon nodded. "How you get them there, is up to you, but don't do anything to obvious, we want them to remain in the dark."

"Isn't that going to be hard for the god of the sun?" Percy asked curiously. Thalia and Nico chuckled along with Poseidon, but they stifled their giggles as Athena spoke up.

The planning continued for another thirty minutes before they broke apart agreeing to meet in the morning outside Poseidon's temple at 7 am.

"Where are you going to stay for the night, my Lady?" Thalia asked curiously.

"I need to visit my hunters for the night. I'll see you in the morning, dear Thalia." She said and with that, she bid Thalia a goodnight.

- 7:45 am -

Poseidon spotted Hermes sitting by one of the trees talking to Martha and George. Since the demigods arrived, Apollo and Hermes had decided to use their teenager forms. He walked up to Hermes with a small package in his hands, addressed to Annabeth.

"Hey, Uncle P!" Hermes said.

"Hello, Lord Poseidon," Martha said.

"Did you happen to bring any rats?" George asked.

"Hello, Martha, George," Poseidon said politely. "Hermes, I need this to go to Nico, he left this in the reading room...and I'm not sure where he is."

"Did you ask Percy?" Hermes asked curiously. "Seems to me they're always together."

That caught Poseidon off guard for a minute. Luckily, it didn't phase him. "I can't find Percy either, I think they're talking with Thalia and the others or something."

"Whatever," Hermes said, standing up to receive the package. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Do you know where Apollo is? I have a question for him."

"Um, did you try his temple? He's always polishing his statue, but if he's not there, you could try down near the amphitheater."

"Thanks, Hermes," Poseidon said as Hermes form started to waver.

"One down, one to go," he muttered to himself and with a scent of sea breeze he went to find Apollo.

He was indeed polishing one of his statues, like Hermes had said. Poseidon walked in the temple with a thoughtful look on.

"Hey, Uncle P." Apollo said, not looking away from the carefully molded golden lyre.

"Hey, Apollo. Did you not hear what happened?"

"Huh?" Apollo stopped, looking up at Poseidon.

"Yeah, I heard someone's playing you're guitar. It might just be Hermes' children, but I don't know. You might want to go check it out."

"Where is it?" Apollo asked, putting the cloth back in it's hiding block.

"I heard they were in the amphitheater, I'd better hurry, you never know what they could do to it."

Apollo was walking out the door before Poseidon finished speaking.

He chuckled to himself. Plan Payback has been set in motion.

-Nico POV-

I waited patiently from my spot on the risers in the little...okay...maybe not so little amphitheater. My role was to greet the two, receive my 'package' – which was really a silver note from Artemis – and then to manage to get the two on stage before the crowd gets here. It really was a genius plan. Then again, Athena was the main conspirator so I'm not really surprised.

Once they get on stage, It's up to Percy and Thalia to handle it until Artemis gets here.

I scanned the area before returning to studying the different types of architecture and the angles of my surroundings.

"Delivery for a Mr Nico Di Angelo," A voice sounded from behind me. I smiled as I turned to face him.

"Hello, Lord Hermes," I said. "Thank you, who's it from?"

"Poseidon said you left it in the reading room," Hermes said scratching his head. "Have you seen my boys?"

"Yeah...I thought they were going to meet me here, but I haven't seen them yet," I said with a sigh.

"Oh, okay, mind if I hang around a bit? I heard there's going to be a show in a little bit," He said with slight interest.

"Oh, really? I didn't know, I was just hanging around, since Percy and I are supposed to meet up soon."

Then I saw Apollo enter the stands and look around.

Apollo jogged up the steps toward us. "Hermes, Nico," he said, greeting us, glancing around frantically.

"What's wrong, Lord Apollo?" I asked. "You seem frazzled."

"I heard someone had brought my guitar down here. Someone mentioned it might have been Travis and Connor...but I don't see them anywhere. Have you seen them, Nico?" He asked.

"No, but I thought they were going to join me down here. I'm sorry, Lord Hermes, but sometimes your sons are too out of control for me."

"That's okay, Nico," Hermes said.

"I did however see someone go on stage not to long before Hermes got here. It looked like whoever it was was carrying something." I stood up. "Come on, I'll help you look for it."

Hermes and Apollo followed me. I had to bit my lip to keep from laughing. For a sun god, he isn't very bright sometimes.

We split up once we were back behind the curtain and I slipped Annabeth Invisibility cap(I asked her if I could borrow it, she eventually said yes, after I told why I needed it). I walked over to where Percy and Thalia were standing waiting for the note.

"Here," I whispered, taking off my cap with one hand and handing them the note in the other. "I hope you're ready."

Thalia's eyes sparked and Percy's smile brightened my morning.

"I've got to go get people seated. Hurry, okay?" They nodded and laughed and I wished them luck.

Stage 2 done.

-Thalia POV-

"Hey, Hermes!" I called trying to get his attention. "What are you looking for?"

"Oh, I'm trying to help Apollo look for his guitar. Nico..." he trailed off, looking around. "Well, he was here a minute ago...Nico said that she thought he saw someone come back here with it."

"Oh, well, I haven't seen anyone, and I've been back here for a while... Could you help me out a minute?"

"Oh, um, sure, I guess, what do you need help with?"

"It's this rope over here," I said tugging him toward the middle of the stage. "I'm so horrible with knots."

He smiled and said sure. I positioned him just right and then pointed to the rope. "It's that one." It was positioned in the middle of the curtain, near the stage floor. As he bent to pick it up I said, "I'll be right back, I need some water," and I walked back toward the curtain controller.

-Percy POV-

Nico walked away leaving Thalia and I alone. "Good luck," I whispered and we split up.

I found Apollo looking through all the props and decorations. "Whatch'ya doin, Lord Apollo?" I asked and he jumped about three feet in the air.

"Percy! You snuck up on me," He said, rubbing the hairs on the back of his neck.

"Sorry about that," I said. "Can I help you find something?"

"I was looking for my guitar. Have you seen it? I heard it was brought down here, but it's supposed to be locked up in my room..."

I shook my head. "Sorry, but I haven't seen it. Say, since you're here, could you help me for a second?"

"Um, I guess so. What do you need help with, Perseus?"

"Please, just Percy, and it's over here." I led him onto the platform behind the screen. I looked toward the curtain controller's station and saw Thalia nod at me. "It's a little dark in here, I dropped my pen, and these pants don't have pockets. Can you brighten it up a bit for me?"

He smiled and the area around us started to grow bright as day. I walked around and dragged him with me.

"Okay, stand here...and I'm going to look right over here," I told him walking to the side opposite Thalia.

"If you say so, Percy." He said and started humming to himself.

I rounded the corner and started up the ladder to the catwalk. My next task was the silver rain and confetti.

-Third Pov-

The stands were starting to fill up and Nico's excitement level grew higher and higher. This is going to be awesome. He said. He watched as minor gods and even a few of the others filled the stands. There's Travis and Connor and Annabeth. And Poseidon and Hades too; Zeus will be down before long I do believe.

Artemis had brought some of her hunters with her to help with her … plan. They were currently sitting among the crowd in carefully planned seats.

Just as Athena sat down, a bolt of lightning struck through the amphitheater, and the curtain wavered, getting everyone's attention. Then, all of a sudden, the curtain was gone, and Hermes was on the stage, staring blankly at everyone in the stands, I started to laugh. Then, Percy dropped the streamers and the confetti. Hermes blinked up at the silver streams raining down from above, and comprehension dawned on his face.

The stage was set up for a play, but I couldn't tell which one it was. It had a lake, and it was set at night with a full moon, so it was the perfect setting for a certain goddess of the moon to have her revenge. As the silver mist continued to rain the lake backdrop was pulled up to reveal Apollo shimmering gold being showered by silver sparkles.

It was so funny, I laughed even harder. Then Athena's owls dropped a banner they were carrying as they passed in front of the stage. At the same moment, 6 silver arrows shot through the air pinning the banner against the stage's pillars. On the banner, in silver paint was the following:

Show my love, I try.

Your ways are stranger than mine.

Yet, I love you still.

- A

Artemis and her wolves came from the wings of the stage and they corralled Hermes and Apollo in a circle. They looked at Artemis and shrank away from her.

"I believe you have something to say," Artemis said to them and their expressions were so priceless, I wish I could have gotten it on camera.

Apollo straightened up and looked directly at her and said, "Artemis, I'm sorry."

She smiled and turned to face Hermes.

"I'm sorry, Artemis. I shouldn't have helped."

"I still thought it was awesome," said Apollo, now covered in silver. "Um, sis? Can you get this off of us now?"

Artemis laughed. "Of course not. That's going to stay on for quite some time. And don't even try to wash it off, Poseidon proved it was water proof."

Thalia and Percy stepped onto the platform.

"Show's over, folks! Thanks for coming out!" They said in unison and everyone clapped, laughing at the looks on the gods faces.

"Well done, my Lady," Thalia said, as Poseidon, the hunters and I joined them on stage.

"So have you learned your lesson?" Athena asked the brothers. Hermes nodded with a smile that clearly said no. Apollo just kept looking around.

"So, are you sure you haven't seen my guitar?" He asked.

"It never left your room!" Artemis said shaking her head. "Honestly! If your mind get's much more empty, it'll be as dry as Percy is underwater!"

I laughed then placed my arms around Percy's shoulders, while Thalia walked beside us. Who then said, "Well done, guys," she said, and we headed back up to the throne room.


	6. Chapter 6

"Who's reading now?" Silena asked curiously.

"I will," Hades said.

**"I get a new Cabin Mate,"** Hades read.

"Tyson," everyone said.

**Ever come home and found your room messed up? Like some helpful person (hi, Mom) has tried to "clean" it, and suddenly you can't find anything?**

"I know right?" Travis and Connor agreed.

"Yeah, Annabeth's like a neat freak," Percy said.

"Excuse me?" Annabeth glared.

"Uh, and never mind! But, now my cabin is really organized," Percy said quickly.

"Even though you can't find anything," Nico muttered under his breath.

"Boys," Annabeth sighed. "You can't live with them."

"But you can't live without them," all the guys grinned.

**And even if nothing is missing, you get that creepy feeling like somebody's been looking through your private stuff and dusting everything with lemon furniture polish?**

"Lemon furniture polish? That has old people written all over it," Nico said with a 'tsk' and a slow shake of his head.

"I know right?" Silena agreed. "Why can't they have tropical furniture polish?"

"Hey!" some goddesses yelled.

"Uh, sorry…" Nico said as everyone stifled a laugh.

Silena giggled. "Just telling the truth."

**That's kind of the way I felt seeing Camp Half-Blood again.**

"I hated that summer's welcome to camp." Annabeth said glumly, and Percy nodded fervently beside her.

**On the surface, things didn't look all that different.**

"Not at all; we get attacked by bulls regularly," Thalia said.

Before Percy could open his mouth, Thalia added "inside of Camp Half-blood."

"Well, except that," Percy groaned.

**The Big House was still there with its blue gabled roof and its wrap around porch. The strawberry fields still baked in the sun. The same white-columned Greek buildings were scattered around the valley—the amphitheater, the combat arena, the dining pavilion overlooking Long Island Sound. And nestled between the woods and the creek were the same cabins—a crazy assortment of twelve buildings, each representing a different Olympian god.**

**But there was an air of danger now. You could tell something was wrong.**

"Really, I thought you figured it out when you almost got burnt to a crisp by metal bulls," Nico laughed.

"Well, you know what I mean," Percy waved his hand dismissively.

"No, I really don't." Nico replied cheekily. "I wasn't there for this."

**Instead of playing volleyball in the sandpit, counselors and satyrs were stockpiling weapons in the tool shed. Dryads armed with bows and arrows talked nervously at the edge of the woods. The forest looked sickly, the grass in the meadow was pale yellow, and the fire marks on Half-Blood Hill stood out like ugly scars.**

**Somebody had messed with my favorite place in the world, and I was not ... well, a happy camper.**

"Neither are we," Annabeth grimaced.

"Me either," Hermes spoke up.

"You're not even a camper," Athena pointed out.

"Well, I'm still not happy," He said.

**As we made our way to the Big House, I recognized a lot of kids from last summer. Nobody stopped to talk.**

Percy tried to stifle his laugh but failed.

"Did you have a nice chat with him?" Annabeth joked.

"A very good talk indeed." Percy played along, than began laughing again.

"Okay, it's not that funny," Annabeth said.

"Yes it is."

Annabeth rolled her eyes and motioned Hades to continue reading, leaving everybody annoyed and confused.

**Nobody said, "Welcome back."**

Percy continued laughing.

"Still not that funny," Annabeth said, but starting giggling.

"You guys look like crazy maniacs," Travis commented.

"What else is new," Thalia shrugged.

"I don't get what's so funny," Demeter said.

"It's their 'inside' joke," Nico sighed.

"It's not going to be our inside joke for long," Percy thought, he pointed out, his laughter dimming down a few shades.

"Good, I really wanna know what you guys are laughing about!" Apollo said.

"Hey, we deserve these inside jokes. Every five minutes, we're about to get stabbed by some monster or forced to jump off cliffs," Percy protested.

"That brings back memories," Nico murmured.

"Of jumping off cliffs?" Hades asked, hoping he was wrong.

"Yeah," Annabeth groaned.

"Oh, I'm kind of scared of reading these books now," Poseidon said nervously.

"Wimp," Ares called, resulting in him getting drenched.

Hades began reading.

**Some did double takes when they saw Tyson, but most just walked grimly past and carried on with their duties—running messages, toting swords to sharpen on the grinding wheels. The camp felt like a military school. And believe me, I know. I've been kicked out of a couple.**

"Percy, you got kicked out of a military school?" Connor asked, shocked.

"That's not very surprising," Annabeth said.

**None of that mattered to Tyson. He was absolutely fascinated by everything he saw. "Whasthat!" he gasped.**

**"The stables for pegasi," I said. "The winged horses."**

"Now I miss Blackjack," Percy muttered.

**"Whasthat!"**

**"Um ... those are the toilets."**

No one in the room could resist the laughing that spread like wildfire. Tyson could brighten anyone's day.

"That's just adorable," Aphrodite giggled.

Hermes looked confused. "If he doesn't know what toilets are, how did he –"

"Don't ask," Percy interrupted.

**"Whasthat!"**

**"The cabins for the campers. If they don't know who your Olympian parent is, they put you in the Hermes cabin—**

"Go Hermes cabin!" the twins yelled than high-fived each other.

"Ares cabin is so much better," Ares grumbled.

"Are you joking? The Hermes cabin is so much better! We always pull pranks on the Ares cabin and Clarisse is no match for us! We totally own them all and –" Connor rambled.

Seeing Ares' twitching eye, Travis covered his brother's mouth.

"He doesn't usually act like this…" Travis nervously chuckled.

"Yes he does," all the demigods rolled their eyes.

"Eww, did you just lick my hand?!" Travis screamed.

"Your hand was in my way," Connor responded.

"Connor, that's so nasty," Silena looked like she was going to gag.

"You're children are disgusting and weird," Hera wrinkled her nose in disgust, with Aphrodite agreeing eagerly.

"I know," Hermes grinned proudly.

**that brown one over there—until you're determined. Then, once they know, they put you in your dad or mom's group."**

**He looked at me in awe. "You ... have a cabin?"**

"No, he lives in a pineapple under the sea," Nico said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Just like Spongebob Squarepants!" Connor acknowledged.

"Who's Spongebob Squarepants?" Zeus asked.

"You've never watched the show?!" Connor exclaimed.

"No, powerful beings like us do not watch shows like that," Hera spat.

"We have Hephaestus T.V!" Apollo grinned.

"Anyways, is this 'Spongebob' actually a sponge and has square pants?" Hermes wondered.

"Yup," the kids chorused.

"You know, he really has to dress better," Silena murmured.

"Wait, Hera," Annabeth started. "How would you know what kind of show it is if you've never seen it?"

That caused a number of the Demigods to snicker.

Hera's eyes turned hard. "Does it matter? I thought not."

**"Number three." I pointed to a low gray building made of sea stone.**

**"You live with friends in the cabin?"**

"Nope," Nico popped the 'p'. "He's a loner,"

"You are too!" Thalia pointed out with Percy.

"I see how it is, just gang up on the youngest one," Nico pouted.

**"No. No, just me." I didn't feel like explaining. The embarrassing truth: I was the only one who stayed in that cabin because I wasn't supposed to be alive.**

"I wasn't supposed to be alive either," Thalia said glumly.

"I never had to worry about that until Grover found us," Nico said with a grin.

Poseidon and Zeus felt guilty at how sad their children looked. Hades, however, was first pleased by the way his son acted, but that pleasant feeling was soon replaced by sadness. My daughter was supposed to be with him. They should have been taken care of at Camp. Why didn't I take them out sooner? Why didn't I send them straight there?

"And even then, I was perfectly fine – ow." He said rubbing the spots where Percy and Thalia whacked him.

"Fine, my – eye." Thalia said. "Percy filled me in on your adventures, Nico."

"Thanks, Perce." Nico said to Percy who shrugged with a grin.

**The "Big Three" gods—Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades—had made a pact after World War II not to have any more children with mortals. We were more powerful than regular half-bloods. We were too unpredictable. When we got mad we tended to cause problems ... like World War II, for instance. The "Big Three" pact had only been broken twice—once when Zeus sired Thalia, once when Poseidon sired me. Neither of us should've been born.**

"Thanks for reminding me," Thalia sighed.

"Sorry, but I can't control my thoughts," Percy shrugged hopelessly.

"Hey, I can feel the sorrow emanating off of you two, and it's really dampening my mood," Apollo interrupted.

Percy stared bitterly. "I didn't know you knew such big words."

"Sorry," Thalia glared. "I'll try not to be depressed for the sake of your precious, godly mood."

**Thalia had gotten herself turned into a pine tree when she was twelve.**

"I 'had gotten myself turned into a pine tree,' You make it sound like that was my choice." Thalia said bitterly.

**Me ... well, I was doing my best not to follow her example.**

"I definitely do not want to become a tree," Percy agreed with his book self.

"What's wrong with being a tree!" Thalia huffed.

"Uh…" Percy rubbed his neck. "Nothing, I just prefer being human,"

"Sheesh, you're a tree hater now," Connor said.

"Whatever, I'm a tree hater and a bull hater, DEAL WITH IT!" Percy snapped irritatedly.

"Someone needs to eat more cereal," Demeter scolded.

"I don't want to eat any cereal!" Percy angrily replied.

"No one talks to me like that," Demeter huffed, glaring at Percy. "No cereal for you!"

Percy tried his best not to smile happily. "Aw, I feel so sad now,"

Everyone else tried to protest but Demeter hushed them all. "It's okay dears, more cereal for everyone except Percy!"

Everyone shut up and glared at Percy.

"Have they been like this throughout the whole thing?" Silena asked her mom.

Aphrodite nodded with a smile. "They've been steadily getting worse, though."

Beckendorf laughed. "That sounds about right."

"Boys," Artemis said as if it were the dirtiest word in the cosmos. "Uncle Hades, can we please read now?"

**I had nightmares about what Poseidon might turn me into if I were ever on the verge of death— plankton, maybe. Or a floating patch of kelp.**

"Interesting nightmare," Silena giggled.

"How's that a nightmare? It would be awesome!" Connor said excitedly.

"I just might do that, if I'm in a bad mood," Poseidon looked deep in thought. "Just kidding,"

Percy sighed in relief. "But seriously, what would you turn me into?"

Poseidon uncertainly said "Maybe a… dolphin?"

"Great, a dolphin as a boyfriend," Nico muttered.

Percy shrugged. "Better than a floating patch of kelp."

**When we got to the Big House, we found Chiron in his apartment, listening to his favorite 1960s lounge music while he packed his saddlebags. I guess I should mention—Chiron is a centaur. From the waist up he looks like a regular middle-aged guy with curly brown hair and a scraggly beard. From the waist down, he's a white stallion. He can pass for human by compacting his lower half into a magic wheelchair. In fact, he'd passed himself off as my Latin teacher during my sixth-grade year. But most of the time, if the ceilings are high enough, he prefers hanging out in full centaur form.**

"EWW!" Aphrodite suddenly screeched.

"What?"

"Chiron doesn't wear pants, does he?"

Nico shook his head, laughing. "You have to get used to it,"

"I'll never get over seeing Grover without pants," Percy shivered.

**As soon as we saw him, Tyson froze. "Pony!" he cried in total rapture.**

Everyone smiled.

"Ah, good memories," Travis smirked.

"You mean the dare?" Annabeth giggled.

"What?"

_Flashback_

"MY LITTLE PONY!" Travis screamed and ran up to Chiron like a little kid.

"Travis?" Chiron asked confusedly.

"MY LITTLE PONY!" Travis pointed at him.

"What?" Chiron looked truly offended.

"Chiron is a pony!"

"No, I'm a centaur. You know that, Travis."

"No, you're a pony." Travis shook his head.

"What are you talking about!" Chiron demanded.

"You're a pony! P-O-N-Y!"

"I know how to spell it," Chiron said. "But I am not a pony!"

"Okay, bye sweet pony!" Travis skipped off, leaving a stunned horse.

"Ha, that was hilarious. Chiron was mad at you for a long time," Percy said.

"I wish we had fun on Olympus," Hermes pouted.

"Did you not enjoy the fun earlier, Hermes?" Artemis asked with an evil grin.

Hermes winced, still trying to rub the silver off his hands, which caused everyone in the room to laugh.

**Chiron turned, looking offended. "I beg your pardon?"**

**Annabeth ran up and hugged him. "Chiron, what's happening? You're not ... leaving?" Her voice was shaky. Chiron was like a second father to her. Chiron ruffled her hair and gave her a kindly smile.**

Annabeth smiled fondly.

**"Hello, child. And Percy, my goodness. You've grown over the year!"**

"Yup, you we're such a shorty back than," Annabeth smirked.

"Back than," Percy reminded Annabeth. "Now, I'm taller than you."

**I swallowed. "Clarisse said you were ... you were ..."**

**"Fired." Chiron's eyes glinted with dark humor. "Ah, well, someone had to take the blame. Lord Zeus was most upset. The tree he'd created from the spirit of his daughter, poisoned! Mr. D had to punish someone."**

"Besides himself," Nico said, looking towards Dionysus.

"Chiron would have never poisoned Thalia," Beckendorf sighed.

"At least we know he's innocent," Poseidon said half-heartedly.

"Or do we?" Apollo asked ominously.

"He is," Artemis rolled her eyes at her brother's childishness.

**"Besides himself, you mean," I growled. Just the thought of the camp director, Mr. D, made me angry.**

"I make you angry…" Dionysus smirked happily.

"Yeah, because you're such a jerk," Percy muttered.

Dionysus looked absolutely outraged, but Poseidon prevented him from doing anything. Ares looked sad: They were not going to fight.

**"But this is crazy!" Annabeth cried. "Chiron, you couldn't have had anything to do with poisoning Thalia's tree!"**

**"Nevertheless," Chiron sighed, "some in Olympus do not trust me now, under the circumstances."**

"Wait, what circumstances?" Demeter asked.

"We don't know, we're reading from Percy's brain," Athena scowled.

"That's insulting," Percy muttered.

**"What circumstances?" I asked. Chiron's face darkened. He stuffed a Latin-English dictionary into his saddlebag while the Frank Sinatra music oozed from his boom box. Tyson was still staring at Chiron in amazement. He whimpered like he wanted to pat Chiron's flank but was afraid to come closer. "Pony?"**

Snickers could be heard throughout the room.

"Tyson sure loves his ponies."

"Yup," Percy smiled. "You should see him interact with the Hippocampi."

**Chiron sniffed. "My dear young Cyclops! I am a centaur."**

**"Chiron," I said. "What about the tree? What happened?"**

**He shook his head sadly. "The poison used on Thalia's pine is something from the Underworld, Percy. Some venom even I have never seen. It must have come from a monster quite deep in the pits of Tartarus."**

**"Then we know who's responsible. Kro—"**

Percy and a few others flinched. It brought back too many bad memories.

**"Do not invoke the titan lord's name, Percy. Especially not here, not now."**

**"But last summer he tried to cause a civil war in Olympus! This has to be his idea. He'd get Luke to do it, that traitor."**

Hermes stiffened at the mention of his son's name as the demigods glanced sadly at the floor.

Zeus tightened his grip on his lightning bolt. "Why don't we kill this traitor before it even begins?"

"NO!" most of the people screamed.

"Don't," Percy warned.

"For once, I'm agreeing with him," Athena said grimly. "It could only make things worse."

Zeus scowled, but stayed silent.

**"Perhaps," Chiron said. "But I fear I am being held responsible because I did not prevent it and I cannot cure it. The tree has only a few weeks of life left unless ..."**

**"Unless what?" Annabeth asked.**

**"No," Chiron said. "A foolish thought. The whole valley is feeling the shock of the poison. The magical borders are deteriorating. The camp itself is dying. Only one source of magic would be strong enough to reverse the poison, and it was lost centuries ago."**

"What is it?"

"It's the –" Travis began.

"Don't tell them!" Percy exclaimed as he covered Travis' mouth.

"Tell us," Apollo whined.

"I think I know what it is," Athena announced.

"Of course you would figure it out first," Poseidon muttered.

"Don't say anything," Percy warned everyone who knew.

**I asked. "We'll go find it!"**

**Chiron closed his saddlebag. He pressed the stop button on his boom box. Then he turned and rested his hand on my shoulder, looking me straight in the eyes. "Percy, you must promise me that you will not act rashly. I told your mother I did not want you to come here at all this summer. It's much too dangerous. But now that you are here, stay here. Train hard. Learn to fight. But do not leave."**

"And he breaks his promise," Thalia said pointedly to Percy. "Am I right?"

Percy was about to protest, but ended up saying "Well, yeah."

"Perseus," Poseidon groaned.

"We didn't have any other option thought," Annabeth said, causing Athena's eyes to grow wider.

"'we?' Are you telling me you left the camp with him?" Athena asked.

Annabeth looked her full in the eye and said, "My friend was in trouble. My friend – who was turned into a tree – was poisoned. And Percy was sneaking out to help our friend. Did you expect me to stay at camp with all that was going on?"

Athena cursed under her breath.

**"Why?" I asked. "I want to do something! I can't just let the borders fail. The whole camp will be—"**

**"Overrun by monsters," Chiron said. "Yes, I fear so. But you must not let yourself be baited into hasty action! This could be a trap of the titan lord. Remember last summer! He almost took your life."**

"He almost takes your life every year," Nico muttered. Luckily, the Olympians didn't hear.

**It was true, but still, I wanted to help so badly. I also wanted to make Kronos pay. I mean, you'd think the titan lord would've learned his lesson eons ago when he was over thrown by the gods. You'd think getting chopped into a million pieces and cast into the darkest part of the Underworld would give him a subtle clue that nobody wanted him around.**

"Exactly what I was thinking!" Zeus sighed.

"I know right, grandfather's these days, can't take a hint if his life depended on it," Percy joked.

"Wow, never thought I'd see the day where they got along normally," Thalia said.

"Well, you also thought you'd never see the day where you sat on Olympus just chilling out with the gods either, did you?" Annabeth smirked.

But no. Because he was immortal, he was still alive down there in Tartarus—suffering in eternal pain, hungering to return and take revenge on Olympus.

"When you say it that way, it does make him sound scary," Connor said.

"When was he ever not scary?" Athena screeched in irritation.

He couldn't act on his own, but he was great at twisting the minds of mortals and even gods to do his dirty work.

"Yeah," Percy winced. "He's really great at it…"

**The poisoning had to be his doing. Who else would be so low as to attack Thalia's tree, the only thing left of a hero who'd given her life to save her friends?**

"That's low! Even for a… titan," Thalia agreed.

**Annabeth was trying hard not to cry. Chiron brushed a tear from her cheek. "Stay with Percy, child," he told her. "Keep him safe. The prophecy—remember it!"**

**"I—I will."**

**"Um ..." I said. "Would this be the super-dangerous prophecy that has me in it, but the gods have forbidden you to tell me about?"**

"Way to be subtle," Thalia laughed. It felt good to laugh after all the suffering from the war.

Nobody answered. Tempting as it was, Percy smiled.

**"Right," I muttered. "Just checking."**

**"Chiron ..." Annabeth said. "You told me the gods made you immortal only so long as you were needed to train heroes. If they dismiss you from camp—"**

**"Swear you will do your best to keep Percy from danger," he insisted. "Swear upon the River Styx."**

**"I—I swear it upon the River Styx," Annabeth said.**

Thunder shook the skies as Hades read this.

"I love adding thunder in the skies for dramatic effect!" Zeus beamed.

"You just swore to keep Percy from danger," Thalia said in awe.

"Good luck," Nico grumbled.

"Uh, for your information, I could take care of myself," Percy pouted. "I'm not a little kid,"

"Hey," Annabeth said. "You're still alive, aren't you?"

Connor took off his shoe and threw it at Percy's head. "Yup, still alive!"

"I could have just told you," Percy glared at Connor.

**Thunder rumbled outside.**

**"Very well," Chiron said. He seemed to relax just a little. "Perhaps my name will be cleared and I shall return. Until then, I go to visit my wild kinsmen in the Everglades. It's possible they know of some cure for the poisoned tree that I have forgotten. In any event, I will stay in exile until this matter is resolved ... one way or another."**

**Annabeth stifled a sob. Chiron patted her shoulder awkwardly. "There, now, child. I must entrust your safety to Mr. D**

"NO! That's a bad idea," Artemis hinted.

"Very bad," Dionysus said darkly. "I'm stuck with these morons, I mean demigods, without any help at all."

"What about the new activities director?"

"Oh, he was horrible," Percy and Annabeth shuddered.

"You'll see soon enough," Silena added.

"You mean you'll read soon enough," Athena corrected.

"Owl head," Poseidon muttered.

Athena heard and said "Kelp for brains."

"Know-it-all," Poseidon retorted.

"Barnacle beard."

"Brainiac."

"Stop it!" Artemis sighed.

Aphrodite smiled. "It's such a wonderful sight though,"

"I know right, fighting is such a wonderful sight," Ares beamed.

"No, I mean their flirting is so endearing!" Aphrodite said.

"There is something wrong with you!" Poseidon told Aphrodite.

"Why can't you understand that hate and love are not the same thing? Get that into your thick head!" Athena yelled.

"Yeah, I agree with Smarty-Pants,"

"Fish-man!"

"Wise one,"

"I know I'm wise," Athena said smugly, than gestured for Hades to continue.

"Darn," Poseidon muttered.

**and the new activities director. We must hope ... well, perhaps they won't destroy the camp quite as quickly as I fear."**

"What great confidence Chiron has in his staff," Poseidon mused.

"Hey, that is pretty great confidence to us," Nico objected.

**"Who is this Tantalus guy, anyway?" I demanded. "Where does he get off taking your job?"**

"He's horrible," Travis groaned.

"More horrible than Dionysus," Connor agreed.

"Wow, you must hate this Tantalus guy," Hephaestus said. "Especially if you think he's worse than Dionysus."

"Thanks," the wine dude sneered.

"Trust me, by the time Tantalus was gone, Mr. D hated him too." Beckendorf added.

"I think 'hate' is an understatement," Annabeth spat. "More like a grudge."

Hades whistled at the mention of the word. "Now that's my kind of thing.

**A conch horn blew across the valley. I hadn't realized how late it was. It was time for the campers to assemble for dinner.**

"DINNER!" Apollo began tuning in.

"What a fatty," Hermes said.

"Says the one with Ambrosia chips behind his back," Apollo smirked as Hermes turned red.

"You guys just ate lunch, so deal with it!" Artemis snapped.

**"Go," Chiron said. "You will meet him at the pavilion. I will contact your mother, Percy, and let her know you're safe. No doubt she'll be worried by now. Just remember my warning! You are in grave danger. Do not think for a moment that the titan lord has forgotten you!"**

**With that, he clopped out of the apartment and down the hall, Tyson calling after him, "Pony! Don't go!"**

"I miss seeing Chiron every morning," Annabeth murmured, leaning on Percy's shoulder.

"Yeah, don't worry, we'll get to see him soon, after we finish reading about my life," Percy said.

"Atleast you guys get to seem him," Silena and Beckendorf sighed.

"What do you mean?" Athena asked curiously.

"Oh nothing much," Percy quickly said. "You know us demigods, always talking nonsense,"

"Exactly true," Hera said but Athena didn't look too convinced.

**I realized I'd forgotten to tell Chiron about my dream of Grover. Now it was too late. The best teacher I'd ever had was gone, maybe for good.**

**Tyson started bawling almost as bad as Annabeth. I tried to tell them that things would be okay, but I didn't believe it.**

"Tyson misses Chiron even after he only met him for 3 minutes?"

"What can I say, he has a big heart," Percy replied.

**The sun was setting behind the dining pavilion as the campers came up from their cabins. We stood in the shadow of a marble column and watched them file in. Annabeth was still pretty shaken up, but she promised she'd talk to us later. Then she went off to join her siblings from the Athena cabin—a dozen boys and girls with blond hair and gray eyes like hers. Annabeth wasn't the oldest, but she'd been at camp more summers than just about anybody. You could tell that by looking at her camp necklace—one bead for every summer, and Annabeth had six. No one questioned her right to lead the line.**

Athena looked proudly at Annabeth, who was grinning.

I guess there are some perks to being at camp the longest, Annabeth thought.

**Next came Clarisse, leading the Ares cabin. She had one arm in a sling and a nasty-looking gash on her cheek, but otherwise her encounter with the bronze bulls didn't seem to have fazed her. Someone had taped a piece of paper to her back that said, YOU MOO, GIRL! But nobody in her cabin was bothering to tell her about it.**

Everyone turned to the twins. "Well, we can already guess who did that,"

"Nice job," Hermes complimented his children.

"You're not going into a rampage?" a confused Hephaestus asked Ares.

Ares tried to control his temper but said "I don't meddle in my kid's lives, I can only sit back and watch what she does in revenge."

"That's pretty much what you said to me in The Lightning Thief," Percy noticed.

**After the Ares kids came the Hephaestus cabin—six guys led by Charles Beckendorf, a big fifteen-year-old African American kid.**

"I'm mentioned! Awesome," Beckendorf grinned.

"Well, we can't forget Becky now can we," Percy teased playfully.

"Becky? That sounds like a girl's name," Beckendorf stuck out his tongue.

"That's cute! Becky!" Silena gushed.

"Great, she's going to call me that for a long time!"

"Sorry, forgot she was an Aphrodite kid," Percy said.

"Are you saying I don't act like my mother?" Silena's lower lip trembled and Percy whacked his boyfriend hard on the head.

"No! I meant… You're not a hot head like the rest…" Percy trailed off because Aphrodite was glaring at him. "Nevermind,"

**He had hands the size of catchers' mitts and a face that was hard and squinty from looking into a blacksmiths forge all day. He was nice enough once you got to know him, but no one ever called him Charlie or Chuck or Charles.**

"Where'd the name Chuck come from?" Connor asked.

Percy shrugged. "I don't know,"

**Most just called him Beckendorf. Rumor was he could make anything.**

"Can you?" Travis asked.

"Maybe," Beckendorf said.

"Way to give a straight answer," Thalia joked.

**Give him a chunk of metal and he could create a razor-sharp sword or a robotic warrior or a singing birdbath for your grandmother's garden. Whatever you wanted.**

"Good to know that you guys think highly of me," Beckendorf said proudly as Hephaestus smiled. He was glad to have such a good son.

**The other cabins filed in: Demeter, Apollo, Aphrodite, Dionysus. Naiads came up from the canoe lake.**

**Dryads melted out of the trees. From the meadow came a dozen satyrs, who reminded me painfully of Grover.**

**I'd always had a soft spot for the satyrs. When they were at camp, they had to do all kinds of odd jobs for Mr. D, the director, but their most important work was out in the real world. They were the camp's seekers. They went undercover into schools all over the world, looking for potential half-bloods and escorting them back to camp. That's how I'd met Grover. He had been the first one to recognize I was a demigod.**

"Aw, Grover, still can't believe he got 4 of the most powerful demigods of the century," Thalia shook her head, smiling.

"Yeah, that's just… amazing," Percy said. "And most of us didn't die,"

"Most," Hades reminded him.

"Yeah, and he almost killed my daughter," Zeus grumbled under his breath.

"It wasn't him, dad," Thalia said. "He tried his best. But in the end, it was my decision to let Annabeth and L-Luke have the time they needed."

**After the satyrs filed in to dinner, the Hermes cabin brought up the rear.**

"YEAH! HERMES CABIN, they're the best," Connor and Travis cheered.

No one even bothered to argue.

**They were always the biggest cabin. Last summer, it had been led by Luke, the guy who'd fought with Thalia and Annabeth on top of Half-Blood Hill. For a while, before Poseidon had claimed me, I'd lodged in the Hermes cabin. Luke had befriended me ... and then he'd tried to kill me.**

"Why does this book keep repeating the dang stuff," Percy grimaced.

"It's your thoughts," Annabeth shrugged.

**Now the Hermes cabin was led by Travis and Connor Stoll.**

"OH YEAH!" Travis and Connor stood up and cheered.

"Dude, sit down so we can read," Apollo called.

"Wow, when did he turn mature?" Percy said in astonishment.

"He hasn't yet," Artemis sighed.

**They weren't twins, but they looked so much alike it didn't matter. I could never remember which one was older.**

"I'm older," Travis immediately said.

"But I'm better looking," Connor chimed in.

"The book just said that you looked so much alike it didn't matter," Annabeth pointed out.

"Whatever rows your boat, honey," Connor smirked.

"Don't call me that," Annabeth demanded.

**They were both tall and skinny, with mops of brown hair that hung in their eyes. They wore orange CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirts untucked over baggy shorts, and they had those elfish features all Hermes's kids had: upturned eyebrows, sarcastic smiles, a gleam in their eyes whenever they looked at you—like they were about to drop a firecracker down your shirt.**

"…Interesting," Ares said.

"We should try that sometime!" Travis said excitedly.

"Not on me," everyone said quickly.

"Aww…" Connor frowned.

"Sorry, boys, save that one for Camp," Hermes said, that glint just mentioned now shinning in his own eyes.

**I'd always thought it was funny that the god of thieves would have kids with the last name "Stoll," but the only time I mentioned it to Travis and Connor, they both stared at me blankly like they didn't get the joke.**

The Olympians laughed at this statement.

"I really don't understand what's so funny," Travis sighed.

"You're last name is 'Stoll,' which sounds like the past tense of steal, and you're dad is the god of thieves. So it would be funny how his child would have the last name 'Stoll.'" Annabeth patiently explained.

"OH!" Connor jumped up and down.

"You get it?" Percy asked.

"No, but I just thought of a fantastic prank!"

Everyone else groaned while Connor began explaining his prank to Travis.

**As soon as the last campers had filed in, I led Tyson into the middle of the pavilion. Conversations faltered. Heads turned. "Who invited that?" somebody at the Apollo table murmured.**

"Teach your children some manners, will you?" Aphrodite said.

"Cant, remember that little rule that Zeus made? Yeah, we're forbidden to see our children," Apollo sighed irritably. He was not in the mood to have a pointless argument right now.

Hades read on, preventing Aphrodite from saying anything.

**I glared in their direction, but I couldn't figure out who'd spoken.**

**From the head table a familiar voice drawled, "Well, well, if it isn't Peter Johnson. My millennium is complete."**

"Dionysus," people called out.

"You sure are welcoming," Poseidon said sarcastically.

**I gritted my teeth. "Percy Jackson ... sir."**

"He does it on purpose," Annabeth mentioned, pointedly looking at Dionysus.

**Mr. D sipped his Diet Coke. "Yes. Well, as you young people say these days: Whatever."**

**He was wearing his usual leopard-pattern Hawaiian shirt, walking shorts, and tennis shoes with black socks. With his pudgy belly and his blotchy red face,**

Everyone except Dionysus snickered. "Nice description, Percy."

"I do not look like that," Dionysus huffed.

Nobody bothered to mention anything, but they all agreed that Dionysus did look like that.

**he looked like a Las Vegas tourist who'd stayed up too late in the casinos. Behind him, a nervous-looking satyr was peeling the skins off grapes and handing them to Mr. D one at a time.**

"Dionysus, they're not your slaves," Hephaestus mentioned.

**Mr. D's real name is Dionysus. The god of wine. Zeus appointed him director of Camp Half-Blood to dry out for a hundred years—a punishment for chasing some off-limits wood nymph.**

"I couldn't help it," Dionysus smirked innocently.

"Oh shut it," Zeus pursed his lips.

**Next to him, where Chiron usually sat (or stood, in centaur form), was someone I'd never seen before—a pale, horribly thin man in a threadbare orange prisoner's jump suit. The number over his pocket read 0001.**

"Tantalus," Percy said with disdain.

"I don't think he's too bad," Demeter said weakly.

"That's because you haven't met him yet," Annabeth said.

"Exactly. Innocent 'til proven guilty."

"Oh trust me, he'll be proven guilty soon," Connor spoke up.

**He had blue shadows under his eyes, dirty fingernails, and badly cut gray hair, like his last haircut had been done with a weed whacker. He stared at me; his eyes made me nervous. He looked ... fractured. Angry and frustrated and hungry all at the same time.**

"I'm not liking this guy already," Aphrodite said in disgust.

**"This boy," Dionysus told him, "you need to watch. Poseidon's child, you know."**

"What's that supposed to mean?" Poseidon interrupted.

"That all your children are troublemakers," Athena shrugged.

"Not true!" Poseidon said. "And even if they were, it's not like they try to be."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, dad," Percy said.

"Sorry, I'm not really good at these things," Poseidon rubbed his neck.

**"Ah!" the prisoner said. "That one."**

**His tone made it obvious that he and Dionysus had already discussed me at length.**

**"I am Tantalus," the prisoner said, smiling coldly. "On special assignment here until, well, until my Lord Dionysus decides otherwise. And you, Perseus Jackson, I do expect you to refrain from causing any more trouble."**

"Not going to happen," Thalia interjected.

"You know me so well," Percy drawled.

**"Trouble?" I demanded.**

**Dionysus snapped his fingers. A newspaper appeared on the table—the front page of today's New York Post, There was my yearbook picture from Meriwether Prep. It was hard for me to make out the headline, but I had a pretty good guess what it said. Something like: Thirteen-Year-Old Lunatic Torches Gymnasium.**

"You're best stunt yet," Hermes beamed.

"Don't encourage him!" Hera scolded.

Nice one, Poseidon mouthed to Percy.

**"Yes, trouble," Tantalus said with satisfaction. "You caused plenty of it last summer, I understand."**

**I was too mad to speak. Like it was my fault the gods had almost gotten into a civil war?**

"Well, they're too stubborn to blame themselves," Thalia muttered. Several gods glared at her, but did nothing. There are some perks to being a daughter of Zeus, after all.

**A satyr inched forward nervously and set a plate of barbecue in front of Tantalus. The new activities director licked his lips. He looked at his empty goblet and said, "Root beer. Barq's special stock. 1967."**

**The glass filled itself with foamy soda. Tantalus stretched out his hand hesitantly, as if he were afraid the goblet was hot.**

**"Go on, then, old fellow," Dionysus said, a strange sparkle in his eyes. "Perhaps now it will work."**

"Or not," Hades smirked.

**Tantalus grabbed for the glass, but it scooted away before he could touch it. A few drops of root beer spilled, and Tantalus tried to dab them up with his fingers, but the drops rolled away like quicksilver before he could touch them. He growled and turned toward the plate of barbecue. He picked up a fork and tried to stab a piece of brisket, but the plate skittered down the table and flew off the end, straight into the coals of the brazier.**

Many of the gods smiled in amusement.

"Ha, he deserves it," Percy snickered.

**"Blast!" Tantalus muttered.**

**"Ah, well," Dionysus said, his voice dripping with false sympathy. "Perhaps a few more days. Believe me, old chap, working at this camp will be torture enough. I'm sure your old curse will fade eventually."**

"Yeah right," Zeus snorted. "Eventually usually means never for us,"

"Wait, so when I asked you if we could have a prank room, and you said 'eventually', you didn't actually mean it?" Hermes looked torn apart.

"Of course we'll have one… eventually," Zeus muttered the last part quietly.

"Okay!" Hermes grinned.

**"Eventually," muttered Tantalus, staring at Dionysus's Diet Coke. "Do you have any idea how dry one's throat gets after three thousand years?"**

"Really dry," Connor said.

"Good answer," Percy smirked.

**"You're that spirit from the Fields of Punishment," I said. "The one who stands in the lake with the fruit tree hanging over you, but you can't eat or drink."**

"That must suck," Apollo said. "Not being able to eat,"

"Yeah, that's torture!" Hermes agreed.

**Tantalus sneered at me. "A real scholar, aren't you, boy?"**

**"You must've done something really horrible when you were alive," I said, mildly impressed. "What was it?"**

"You son has guts," Hermes whistled in awe.

"Of course I do," Percy smirked smugly.

"Thanks for giving him a bigger head," Thalia rolled her eyes.

"I do not have a big head."

"Sure, whatever you say…"

**Tantalus's eyes narrowed. Behind him, the satyrs were shaking their heads vigorously, trying to warn me.**

"And he doesn't listen," Annabeth whispered to Thalia.

**"I'll be watching you, Percy Jackson," Tantalus said. "I don't want any problems at my camp."**

**"Your camp has problems already ... sir."**

"Oh burned!" Hermes said excitedly.

**"Oh, go sit down, Johnson," Dionysus sighed. "I believe that table over there is yours—the one where no one else ever wants to sit."**

"Wow, you actually made a good comeback," Apollo complimented.

"Wow, Apollo actually complimented someone else other than himself," Thalia retorted.

"Harsh, just the way I like them," Apollo winked, the silver sparkles glittered brightly in the light.

Thalia had a look of disgust on her face.

"Don't flirt with my lieutenant-to-be!" Artemis growled.

**My face was burning, but I knew better than to talk back. Dionysus was an overgrown brat, but he was an immortal, super powerful overgrown brat.**

"Excuse me?" Dionysus scoffed. "I am not a brat, you are."

"Nuh uh, you're a bigger brat," Percy protested.

"No, you are."

"I'm going to be the bigger person and not say anything back," Percy muttered.

Dionysus scowled.

**I said, "Come on, Tyson."**

**"Oh, no," Tantalus said. "The monster stays here. We must decide what to do with it."**

"Tyson isn't a monster," Beckendorf said.

**"Him," I snapped. "His name is Tyson."**

**The new activities director raised an eyebrow.**

**"Tyson saved the camp," I insisted. "He pounded those bronze bulls. Otherwise they would've burned down this whole place."**

**"Yes," Tantalus sighed, "and what a pity that would've been."**

**Dionysus snickered.**

**"Leave us," Tantalus ordered, "while we decide this creature's fate."**

**Tyson looked at me with fear in his one big eye, but I knew I couldn't disobey a direct order from the camp directors. Not openly, anyway.**

**"I'll be right over here, big guy," I promised. "Don't worry. We'll find you a good place to sleep tonight."**

**Tyson nodded. "I believe you. You are my friend."**

"That's so sweet," Aphrodite, Demeter and Hestia cooed.

**Which made me feel a whole lot guiltier.**

**I trudged over to the Poseidon table and slumped onto the bench. A wood nymph brought me a plate of Olympian olive-and-pepperoni pizza, but I wasn't hungry. I'd been almost killed twice today. I'd managed to end my school year with a complete disaster. Camp Half-Blood was in serious trouble and Chiron had told me not to do anything about it.**

"That's a new personal high," Connor high-fived Percy.

"Don't you mean that's a new personal low?" Athena asked.

"No, we must embrace who we are," Travis beamed.

"Weirdo," Thalia said.

**I didn't feel very thankful, but I took my dinner, as was customary, up to the bronze brazier and scraped part of it into the flames.**

**"Poseidon," I murmured, "accept my offering."**

**And send me some help while you're at it, I prayed silently. Please.**

Poseidon smiled.

**The smoke from the burning pizza changed into some thing fragrant—the smell of a clean sea breeze with wild-flowers mixed in—but I had no idea if that meant my father was really listening.**

"It does," Poseidon informed as Percy grinned.

**I went back to my seat. I didn't think things could get much worse. But then Tantalus had one of the satyrs blow the conch horn to get our attention for announcements.**

**"Yes, well," Tantalus said, once the talking had died down. "Another fine meal! Or so I am told." As he spoke, he inched his hand toward his refilled dinner plate, as if maybe the food wouldn't notice what he was doing, but it did. It shot away down the table as soon as he got within six inches.**

"Haha, what a loser," Travis smirked.

**"And here on my first day of authority," he continued, "I'd like to say what a pleasant form of punishment it is to be here. Over the course of the summer, I hope to torture,**

Everyone raised their eyebrows.

**er, interact with each and every one of you children. You all look good enough to eat."**

"What a cannibal!" Nico spat at the book.

"I know, right?" Thalia agreed.

"I'm glad we weren't there for that summer." Nico said.

**Dionysus clapped politely, leading to some halfhearted applause from the satyrs. Tyson was still standing at the head table, looking uncomfortable, but every time he tried to scoot out of the limelight, Tantalus pulled him back.**

**"And now some changes!" Tantalus gave the campers a crooked smile. "We are reinstituting the chariot races!"**

"What?" some people shouted.

"It was banned for a reason!" Athena huffed. "Too dangerous,"

"Exactly why he probably wanted to reinstitute the chariot races," Annabeth muttered.

"To get us to go against each other," Percy rolled his eyes.

**Murmuring broke out at all the tables—excitement, fear, disbelief.**

**"Now I know," Tantalus continued, raising his voice, "that these races were discontinued some years ago due to, ah, technical problems."**

**"Three deaths and twenty-six mutilations," someone at the Apollo table called.**

"That's what you call technical problems?" Zeus raised his eyebrows.

"This is cruel, what is he doing!" Demeter spoke up.

"He's basically inviting us to kill each other, and that won't go well with the Ares cabin around." Nico said.

Everyone nodded in agreement. Sure, the Olympians weren't exactly model parents, but they cared about their children. They didn't want them dying because of silly little games.

**"Yes, yes!" Tantalus said. "But I know that you will all join me in welcoming the return of this camp tradition. Golden laurels will go to the winning charioteers each month. Teams may register in the morning! The first race will be held in three days time. We will release you from most of your regular activities to prepare your chariots and choose your horses. Oh, and did I mention, the victorious team's cabin will have no chores for the month in which they win?"**

"Bribery," Connor and Travis murmured in awe.

**An explosion of excited conversation—no KP for a whole month? No stable cleaning? Was he serious?**

**Then the last person I expected to object did so.**

**"But, sir!" Clarisse said. She looked nervous, but she stood up to speak from the Ares table. Some of the campers snickered when they saw the YOU MOO, GIRL! sign on her back. "What about patrol duty? I mean, if we drop every thing to ready our chariots—"**

"At least Clarisse has common sense," Beckendorf tried to lighten the mood. "Even if she had that sign on her back,"

"We may not like each other, but we have respect," Percy said. "Or… Well, I think she has respect for me."

**"Ah, the hero of the day," Tantalus exclaimed. "Brave Clarisse, who single-handedly bested the bronze bulls!"**

"Tyson did all the work," Percy scoffed.

**Clarisse blinked, then blushed. "Um, I didn't—"**

"Oh!" Connor and Travis looked at each other. "He's complimenting her so she won't protest,"

"What a trickster!" Hermes exclaimed.

"I guess he could be a child of Hermes is he wanted to," Nico said.

"That was so insulting!" Connor and Travis huffed.

**"And modest, too." Tantalus grinned. "Not to worry, my dear! This is a summer camp. We are here to enjoy our selves, yes?"**

**"But the tree—"**

"I hate to say it, but I'm kind of liking Clarisse right now," Thalia noted.

**"And now," Tantalus said, as several of Clarisse's cabin mates pulled her back into her seat, "before we proceed to the campfire and sing-along, one slight housekeeping issue. Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase have seen fit, for some reason, to bring this here." Tantalus waved a hand toward Tyson.**

"What a little…" Poseidon glared at the book.

"Now you see why we hate him so much," Percy said. "And it hasn't even started yet,"

**Uneasy murmuring spread among the campers. A lot of sideways looks at me. I wanted to kill Tantalus.**

"Me too," Beckendorf, Annabeth, Nico, Connor and Travis said at once.

"I wanna zap him to death!" Thalia had a gleam in her eye.

**"Now, of course," he said, "Cyclopes have a reputation for being bloodthirsty monsters with a very small brain capacity. Under normal circumstances, I would release this beast into the woods and have you hunt it down with torches and pointed sticks. But who knows? Perhaps this Cyclops is not as horrible as most of its brethren. Until it proves worthy of destruction, we need a place to keep it! I've thought about the stables, but that will make the horses nervous. Hermes's cabin, possibly?"**

**Silence at the Hermes table. Travis and Connor Stoll developed a sudden interest in the tablecloth. I couldn't blame them. The Hermes cabin was always full to bursting. There was no way they could take in a six-foot-three Cyclops.**

"And the fact that we didn't know if it was safe," Connor spoke up.

Percy shrugged sadly. "He gets that reaction a lot,"

**"Come now," Tantalus chided. "The monster may be able to do some menial chores. Any suggestions as to where such a beast should be kenneled?"**

**Suddenly everybody gasped.**

**Tantalus scooted away from Tyson in surprise. All I could do was stare in disbelief at the brilliant green light that was about to change my life—a dazzling holographic image that had appeared above Tyson's head.**

**Everyone was silent.**

**With a sickening twist in my stomach, I remembered what Annabeth had said about Cyclopes, They're the children of nature spirits and gods ... Well, one god in particular, usually …**

"And that particular god is Poseidon," Athena said.

"Yeah, we all know," Nico rolled his eyes.

**Swirling over Tyson was a glowing green trident—the same symbol that had appeared above me the day Poseidon had claimed me as his son.**

**There was a moment of awed silence.**

**Being claimed was a rare event. Some campers waited in vain for it their whole lives. When I'd been claimed by Poseidon last summer, everyone had reverently knelt.**

**But now, they followed Tantalus's lead, and Tantalus roared with laughter. "Well! I think we know where to put the beast now. By the gods, I can see the family resemblance!"**

Everyone looked at Percy, expecting some kind of outburst, but Percy just shrugged.

"I don't care what he says… anymore, at least." he added on in a murmur.

**Everybody laughed except Annabeth and a few of my other friends.**

**Tyson didn't seem to notice. He was too mystified, trying to swat the glowing trident that was now fading over his head. He was too innocent to understand how much they were making fun of him, how cruel people were.**

**But I got it.**

**I had a new cabin mate. I had a monster for a half-brother.**

"That's the end of the chapter," Hades said.

Percy pulled his hair in shame and stayed silent. What was everyone going to think the next few chapters? He so much regretted how he treated his brother and wish he could change it. Percy was too in thought to notice everyone looking at him. Nico patted his back.

"Percy, its fine." He tried to comfort him.

"Huh? Oh, thanks." Percy said. "So, we uh… going to read the next chapter?"

"Yeah, who wants to read next?" Thalia asked.


	7. Chapter 7

"If it's okay, can I read?" Silena asked.

"Yeah sure," Nico said as Hades handed the book over.

**"Demon Pigeons Attack,"**

"Sounds… dangerous," Demeter said.

"Let's just say, it wasn't pleasant at all," Travis shivered.

"I still have nightmares about it," Connor whimpered.

"Aww, poor Connor!" the goddesses said.

"What a suck-up," Thalia muttered.

Connor made a face at Thalia when no one was looking.

**The next few days were torture, just like Tantalus wanted.**

**First there was Tyson moving into the Poseidon cabin, giggling to himself every fifteen seconds and saying, "Percy is my brother?" like he'd just won the lottery.**

"Well, he must be very excited."

"How is rooming with Percy like winning the lottery?" Nico joked. "I would be like: WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?!"

"Ha-ha, very funny!" Percy stuck out his tongue.

"Yeah, I know, it's really funny," Nico smirked.

"Plus that's not what you said the few times you stayed over" Percy commented

Which made Nico blush.

**"Aw, Tyson," I'd say. "It's not that simple."**

"Actually, it is that simple," Annabeth noted.

"Is it really?" Apollo asked.

"Well, yeah. It is." Annabeth said. "Sheesh, and Percy says I'm complicated."

"You are," all the demigods chorused.

**But there was no explaining it to him. He was in heaven. And me ... as much as I liked the big guy, I couldn't help feeling embarrassed. Ashamed. There, I said it.**

Percy bit his lip. He still felt ashamed. But this time, he was ashamed at his actions.

"Why were you ashamed?" Zeus asked curiously.

"I think you'll find out soon," Percy sighed.

**My father, the all-powerful Poseidon, had gotten moony-eyed for some nature spirit, and Tyson had been the result. I mean, I'd read the myths about Cyclopes. I even remembered that they were often Poseidon's children. But I'd never really processed that this made them my ... family. Until I had Tyson living with me in the next bunk.**

"Oh, so that's why," Hera said.

Percy wondered how Tyson would react to his thoughts. He would probably look at him with a big, watery eye and say "Percy no like Tyson? I am monster, I leave now," or something like that. That would just crack his heart in two and he wouldn't be able to stand it.

"Perce?" Nico waved a hand in front of his face.

Percy realised that he was so into thought that he didn't notice everyone staring at him worriedly. "Oh yeah, i'm fine,"

No one looked too convinced but they began reading anyways. While Nico gave him a hug and pulled him into his lap keeping his grip on his waist, knowing what Percy was thinking.

One thing he knew for sure was that if Tyson ever got within a five meter radius of the book, he was going to shred it in a blender, shove it up an ice cream cone, and toss it down Tartarus for Kronos to eat. Yummy.

**And then there were the comments from the other campers. Suddenly, I wasn't Percy Jackson, the cool guy who'd retrieved Zeus's lightning bolt last summer.**

"When were you ever known as the cool guy?" Thalia said.

Percy shrugged.

Thalia frowned. It was no fun teasing your cousins if they didn't fight back.

**Now I was Percy Jackson, the poor schmuck with the ugly monster for a brother.**

**"He's not my real brother!" I protested whenever Tyson wasn't around. "He's more like a half-brother on the monstrous side of the family.**

Percy looked like it was painful just to listen to this.

"Seaweed Brain, don't feel so bad, we all have flaws," Annabeth said.

"Yeah, but my flaw is loyalty, I'm not supposed to be acting like this," Percy muttered. "I'm supposed to be the guy that sticks by them no matter what. And it's even worse that he's my brother."

"Half-brother," Connor reminded him.

Thalia sighed. Why did it have to be her cousin that had a big heart? Sure, it was a good trait to have, but it got annoying sometimes. "Percy, we all make mistakes, that's what makes us human –"

Apparently, it makes us godly too, Nico thought, thinking of all the flaws the gods and goddesses had.

"– beings, and besides, you care about Tyson now, and that's all the matters," Thalia finished. "Now stop being so depressing like Nico and start reading!"

"I'm not depressing," Nico protested. "Well, not always,"

Everyone looked at Thalia in awe, as Zeus smiled proudly.

**Like ... a half-brother twice removed, or something."**

**Nobody bought it.**

**I admit—I was angry at my dad. I felt like being his son was now a joke.**

Poseidon looked sad. He would never intentionally do anything to hurt his son in any way.

"Dad, I'm glad I have Tyson as a brother," Percy spoke, seeing the look on his father's face.

**Annabeth tried to make me feel better. She suggested we team up for the chariot race to take our minds off our problems. **

"Well, I don't think this will turn out well," Nico smirked.

**Don't get me wrong—we both hated Tantalus and we were worried sick about camp—but we didn't know what to do about it. Until we could come up with some brilliant plan to save Thalia's tree, we figured we might as well go along with the races. **

"Glad you guys care so much for me," Thalia said sarcastically.

"You can't blame me, I didn't even know you back than," Percy shrugged.

"Hey, we didn't have a plan yet, and you know me, never rushing into battle without a plan," Annabeth said.

"Yup, and you know me, never bothering with a plan. But I really really wanted to try chariot racing!" Percy smiled.

**After all, Annabeth's mom, Athena, had invented the chariot, and my dad had created horses. Together we would own that track.**

"And you said you didn't have a big head," Thalia snorted.

"He doesn't," Poseidon interrupted. He figured since he hasn't been acting like a real parent to Percy, he might as well start now. Better late than never, as Apollo always says whenever he forgets to drive his sun chariot through the sky.

"Exactly," Percy smiled, happy that his father went to his defence.

**One morning Annabeth and I were sitting by the canoe lake sketching chariot designs when some jokers from Aphrodite's cabin walked by and asked me if I needed to borrow some eyeliner for my eye ... "Oh sorry, eyes."**

Thalia scowled. They didn't need to be making fun of Percy just because of who his brother is.

**As they walked away laughing, Annabeth grumbled, "Just ignore them, Percy. It isn't your fault you have a monster for a brother."**

"Huh, I just realised how bad that sounded." Annabeth murmured, looking as if she was analyzing every letter carefully.

**"He's not my brother!" I snapped. "And he's not a monster, either!"**

**Annabeth raised her eyebrows. "Hey, don't get mad at me! And technically, he is a monster."**

**"Well you gave him permission to enter the camp."**

**"Because it was the only way to save your life! I mean ... I'm sorry, Percy, I didn't expect Poseidon to claim him. Cyclopes are the most deceitful, treacherous—"**

**"He is not! What have you got against Cyclopes, any-way?"**

"Dude, Percy, are you bipolar or something?" Travis couldn't help grinning.

"You should really make up your mind whether you're defending him or going against him," Connor suggested.

"I am not bipolar, that's more of Nico's thing," Percy smirked back.

"Definitely," Thalia agreed.

"Ouch, when did I have such a hurtful cousin and boyfriend?" Nico pretended to pout.

"Oh my gods," Percy groaned. "One minute you're glaring at us like we just had the nerve to destroy the world without your permission and the next, your pouting like Cerberus."

"Cerberus pouts?" Hephaestus asked curiously.

"Yeah," Percy, Annabeth and Nico said simultaneously.

"The Cerberus from the Underworld?" Zeus asked skeptically.

"Do you know any other giant, semi-transparent three headed rottweilers that's named Cerberus, twice the size of a mammoth and loves big red rubber balls?" Annabeth asked patiently.

"I guess not…"

"Don't forget that he doesn't really like sticks," Percy grimaced.

"And he just adores Mrs. O'Leary," Nico smiled.

"Who?" Demeter asked.

"Percy's pet hellhound." All the demigods said simply.

"I'm not even going to ask where you got a pet hellhound from," Poseidon shook his head as everyone else laughed.

**Annabeth's ears turned pink. I got the feeling there was something she wasn't telling me—something bad.**

**"Just forget it," she said. "Now, the axle for this chariot—"**

**"You're treating him like he's this horrible thing," I said. "He saved my life."**

"I think you should have just let it go," Thalia said to the two of them.

The both looked at her and started talking at once.

"I tried, but she wouldn't let up. One minute, she likes Tyson okay, then the next she's going on and on about how horrible Cyclops are. But she hadn't even had a chance to get to know Tyson!"

"What was I supposed to do? You remember what it was like! Every time I saw Tyson I couldn't help but picture you and Luke and Grover tied up in a cave! Don't you dare tell me to let it go."

Silena and Beckendorf looked at each other, then stood up simultaneously and wrapped their hands over Annabeth's and Percy's mouths.

Silena let go of Annabeth and walked back to her seat to start reading again.

**Annabeth threw down her pencil and stood. "Then maybe you should design a chariot with him."**

**"Maybe I should."**

**"Fine!"**

**"Fine!"**

**She stormed off and left me feeling even worse than before.**

**The next couple of days, I tried to keep my mind off my problems.**

**Silena Beauregard, one of the nicer girls from Aphrodite's cabin, **

"You really think so? Aww, you're just so sweet!" Silena gushed.

"Well, it's true. Most of your siblings are hurtful and annoying," Percy shrugged.

**gave me my first riding lesson on a pegasus. She explained that there was only one immortal winged horse named Pegasus, who still wandered free somewhere in the skies, but over the eons he'd sired a lot of children, none quite so fast or heroic, but all named after the first and greatest.**

"Wait, if they were all named after the first Pegasus, why does Percy call them by 'Blackjack' and Porkpie and stuff?" Connor asked.

"Because, if I called them all Pegasus, they would become confused," Percy said.

**Being the son of the sea god, I never liked going into the air. **

"Really?" Thalia said. "I thought since you were the son of the sea god, you would absolutely love the air!"

"Wow, even though that was sarcastic, it sounds really stupid," Percy smirked. "Besides, it's not like you don't like the water..." He trailed off, letting her know that he still remembered that little bitty secret they shared about her teeny tiny secret fear of heights.

"True," She said, narrowing her eyes at him.

**My dad had this rivalry with Zeus, so I tried to stay out of the lord of the sky's domain as much as possible. "Good thinking," Zeus said. But riding a winged horse felt different. It didn't make me nearly as nervous as being in an airplane. Maybe that was because my dad had created horses out of sea foam, so the pegasi were sort of ... neutral territory. I could understand their thoughts. I wasn't surprised when my pegasus went galloping over the treetops or chased a flock of seagulls into a cloud.**

"I don't like Pegasi," Nico stated.

"They don't like you either," Annabeth shrugged.

"Why don't they like him?" Connor asked.

"Because I'm the son of Hades," Nico said.

"It might also be that you ate their apples and stole their sugar cubes," Percy grinned.

"I was starving!" Nico defended himself.

"Uh huh…"

T**he problem was that Tyson wanted to ride the "chicken ponies," **

Everyone couldn't help but laugh.

"I wonder how he came up with that name,"

**too, but the pegasi got skittish whenever he approached. I told them telepathically that Tyson wouldn't hurt them, but they didn't seem to believe me. That made Tyson cry.**

"Aww…" Aphrodite pouted.

"Wait, if Tyson was a son of Poseidon, why would the pegasi be scared of him?" Travis asked.

"Probably because Cyclopes in general aren't the… friendliest people," Thalia bit her lip.

**The only person at camp who had no problem with Tyson was Beckendorf from the Hephaestus cabin. The blacksmith god had always worked with Cyclopes in his forges, so Beckendorf took Tyson down to the armory to teach him metalworking. He said he'd have Tyson crafting magic items like a master in no time.**

Poseidon and Percy looked gratefully at Beckendorf, who was smiling fondly at the memories.

**After lunch, I worked out in the arena with Apollo's cabin. Swordplay had always been my strength. People said I was better at it than any camper in the last hundred years, except maybe Luke. People always compared me to Luke.**

Percy frowned. I'm nothing like Luke.

Both Connor and Travis also hated when people compared them to Luke just because they were brothers.

**I thrashed the Apollo guys easily.**

"Good job, son," Poseidon said.

"Hmph," Apollo said, crossing his arms.

"Don't worry, Lord Apollo," Percy said. "I'm still a horrible Archer."

That made him smile a bit more.

**I should've been testing myself against the Ares and Athena cabins, since they had the best sword fighters, but I didn't get along with Clarisse and her siblings, and after my argument with Annabeth, I just didn't want to see her.**

**I went to archery class, even though I was terrible at it, **

"Really awful," Thalia couldn't help but grin.

"At least Chiron forgave you for snagging his tail," Annabeth added, trying to lighten the mood.

**and it wasn't the same without Chiron teaching. In arts and crafts, I started a marble bust of Poseidon,**

Poseidon began smiling.

but it started looking like Sylvester Stallone, so I ditched it.

But than it faded, and everyone began laughing.

"It's not my fault. Arts and crafts just aren't my thing," Percy grinned.

**I scaled the climbing wall in full lava-and-earthquake mode.**

"Did you get burned?" Nico asked.

"Nah, I'm too good," Percy smirked.

"What are you talking about? Just the other day, I saw you get scorched," Annabeth said.

"You had to ruin the fun," Percy pouted. "Well, at least it didn't hurt."

**And in the evenings, I did border patrol. Even though Tantalus had insisted we forget trying to protect the camp, some of the campers had quietly kept it up, working out a schedule during our free times.**

Athena nodded in approval. "Never let your guard down."

"Party pooper," Apollo muttered under his breath, but he knew she was right. His children were in danger.

**I sat at the top of Half-Blood Hill and watched the dryads come and go, singing to the dying pine tree. Satyrs brought their reed pipes and played nature magic songs, and for a while the pine needles seemed to get fuller. The flowers on the hill smelled a little sweeter and the grass looked greener. But as soon as the music stopped, the sickness crept back into the air. The whole hill seemed to be infected, dying from the poison that had sunk into the tree's roots. The longer I sat there, the angrier I got.**

"Well it seems that even in tree form I can get on your bad side," Thalia said, trying to lighten up the mood a little.

**Luke had done this. I remembered his sly smile, the dragon-claw scar across his face. He'd pretended to be my friend, and the whole time he'd been Kronos's number-one servant.**

What a backstabber, Percy thought, but than he remembered when Luke stabbed himself. Ugh, it's so hard to stay mad at him when he became a hero in the end.

**I opened the palm of my hand. The scar Luke had given me last summer was fading, but I could still see it—a white asterisk-shaped wound where his pit scorpion had stung me.**

Percy winced and subconsciously rubbed his scorpion wound.

**I thought about what Luke had told me right before he'd tried to kill me: Good-bye, Percy. There is a new Golden Age coming. You won't be part of it.**

Connor snorted bitterly. "Looks like there wasn't a golden age, and Percy is apart of it."

**At night, I had more dreams of Grover. Sometimes, I just heard snatches of his voice. Once, I heard him say: It's here. Another time: He likes sheep.**

"Uh… that's an odd thing to say," Hades said.

"Not for Grover," Thalia said.

"But seriously, 'he likes sheep'?" Zeus chuckled.

"Heh, I guess he had a reason for saying that," Percy grinned.

**I thought about telling Annabeth about my dreams, but I would've felt stupid. I mean, He likes sheep? She would've thought I was crazy.**

"I already thought you were crazy," Annabeth shrugged. "But I guess you should have told me anyways,"

"Well, I tried to tell you later, but look how well that turned out," Percy said.

"Sorry," Annabeth said in embarrassment.

**The night before the race, Tyson and I finished our chariot. It was wicked cool. Tyson had made the metal parts in the armory's forges. I'd sanded the wood and put the carriage together. It was blue and white, with wave designs on the sides and a trident painted on the front. **

"Of course it would have waves and tridents on it," Thalia said.

"Well, I bet yours would have had clouds and lightning on it," Percy retorted back.

"Yeah, probably," Thalia admitted.

**After all that work, it seemed only fair that Tyson would ride shotgun with me, though I knew the horses wouldn't like it, and Tyson's extra weight would slow us down.**

"But it would be the right thing to do," Demeter said.

"Even though it would slow you down," Apollo added.

"It's still the right thing to do," Percy reminded him.

"You sound so much like Athena. She's always like 'Do the right thing' whenever I steal stuff. I mean, come on, I'm the god of thieves, it's what I do." Hermes gave a pointed look at Athena.

"I can't believe you just said I sounded like Athena," Percy gave a disgusted look. "You're so hurtful."

"I know, how insulting," Athena scowled. "You just implied that I'm as dumb as Kelp for Brain's son."

"Great, can we stop playing 'insult the seaweed brain' game?" Percy asked exasperatedly.

"Fine, but it's such a fun game!" Hera smirked as Percy frowned.

**As we were turning in for bed, Tyson said, "You are mad?"**

**I realized I'd been scowling. **

**"Nah. I'm not mad."**

**He lay down in his bunk and was quiet in the dark. His body was way too long for his bed. When he pulled up the covers, his feet stuck out the bottom. "I am a monster."**

**"Don't say that."**

**"It is okay. I will be a good monster. Then you will not have to be mad."**

"Wow, that's really sweet," Annabeth said.

"And you didn't like him at first," Percy told her.

"Because I had a very bad experience with Cyclopes before!" Annabeth defended herself. "What about you, huh?"

Percy sighed. "I know, I'm such a bad person and I can't believe I let the campers influence me,"

"Percy!" Thalia rolled her eyes. "Honestly, I gave that huge, awesome, moving speech so that you could shut up and stop being so annoying. You know me, I never give speeches. Don't make me clobber you. Or worse, strike you with lightning...again."

"Uh, okay," Percy gulped.

Nico whispered to her, "Just warn me, cause I really don't want to get shocked by your lightning as well" Making Thalia smirk.

**I didn't know what to say. I stared at the ceiling and felt like I was dying slowly, right along with Thalia's tree.**

"How nice, just include me in every sentence, will you?" Thalia sighed.

"Sorry, I guess you we're on my mind a lot," Percy said.

"Ooh, do I hear a love triangle?" Aphrodite grinned wickedly.

"NO!" Percy, Nico and Thalia screamed.

"Yes," Athena muttered.

"Don't you dare mess with my to-be hunter," Artemis glared.

"Fine, I won't," Aphrodite said, as everyone sighed in relief.

"Besides, I would never – no offense Thalia, - but I would never think of her that way. . . She's more like my sister, or my cousin than anything else!" Percy said quickly throwing that out there.

**"It's just... I never had a half-brother before." I tried to keep my voice from cracking. "It's really different for me. And I'm worried about the camp. And another friend of mine, Grover ... he might be in trouble. I keep feeling like I should be doing something to help, but I don't know what."**

**Tyson said nothing.**

**"I'm sorry," I told him. "It's not your fault. I'm mad at Poseidon. I feel like he's trying to embarrass me, like he's trying to compare us or something, and I don't understand why."**

Poseidon frowned. He didn't know what he was doing, but he doubted he would try to compare his two sons.

**I heard a deep rumbling sound. Tyson was snoring.**

**I sighed. "Good night, big guy."**

**And I closed my eyes, too.**

**In my dream, Grover was wearing a wedding dress.**

Everyone began laughing, Apollo even fell out of his throne.

**It didn't fit him very well. The gown was too long and the hem was caked with dried mud. The neckline kept falling off his shoulders. A tattered veil covered his face.**

"I wonder who he's getting married to," Thalia grinned.

"Why didn't he invite us," Nico pouted.

"He didn't even know you back than," Annabeth raised her eyebrows.

"Well, anyways, you wouldn't want to go to where he is," Percy said.

**He was standing in a dank cave, lit only by torches. There was a cot in one corner and an old-fashioned loom in the other, a length of white cloth half woven on the frame. And he was staring right at me, like I was a TV program he'd been waiting for. "Thank the gods!" he yelped. "Can you hear me?"**

"What's going on?" Hermes asked.

"He can see you?" Apollo asked, curious.

Percy nodded, motioning for Silena to keep reading.

**My dream-self was slow to respond. I was still looking around, taking in the stalactite ceiling, the stench of sheep and goats, the growling and grumbling and bleating sounds that seemed to echo from behind a refrigerator-sized boulder, which was blocking the room's only exit, as if there were a much larger cavern beyond it.**

**"Percy?" Grover said. "Please, I don't have the strength to project any better. You have to hear me!"**

**"I hear you," I said. "Grover, what's going on?"**

**From behind the boulder, a monstrous voice yelled, "Honeypie! Are you done yet?"**

"Honeypie? Juniper's not going to like that," Travis grinned.

**Grover flinched. He called out in falsetto, "Not quite, dearest! A few more days!"**

**"Bah! Hasn't it been two weeks yet?"**

**"N-no, dearest. Just five days. That leaves twelve more to go."**

"Uh… Isn't it 9 days, or do I have really bad math skills?" Nico asked.

"Nope, you're right," Percy said.

**The monster was silent, maybe trying to do the math. He must've been worse at arithmetic than I was, because he said, "All right, but hurry! I want to SEEEEE under that veil, heh-heh-heh."**

"That sounds so creepy!" Connor shuddered.

"I feel really bad for Grover now," Thalia chuckled.

**Grover turned back to me. "You have to help me! No time! I'm stuck in this cave. On an island in the sea."**

"An island in the sea…" Athena murmured to herself. "Of course, it would be there… but…"

"Sometimes I wish I were the god of wisdom," Apollo pouted.

"You're the god of prophecies," Percy said. "At least you can sometimes foretell the future."

"Oh true!" Apollo perked up. The sun seemed to become brighter too, even if it was a bit more silvery than usual.

**"Where?"**

**"I don't know exactly! I went to Florida and turned left."**

"Of course, Florida!" Athena said.

"Care to enlighten us?" Hermes asked.

"No, it's okay," Athena smirked.

**"What? How did you—"**

**"It's a trap!" Grover said. "It's the reason no satyr has ever returned from this quest. He's a shepherd, Percy! And he has it. Its nature magic is so powerful it smells just like the great god Pan! The satyrs come here thinking they've found Pan, and they get trapped and eaten by Polyphemus!"**

"Huh, so Grover's getting married to a cyclopes," Travis joked. "Not bad, I guess,"

"But isn't it weird? Demeter asked.

"Oh well, as long as our little Grover's happy, he can be with whomever he wants," Connor pretended to sniff.

"Again, you're children are weird," Hera scowled.

"Sometimes you just have to embrace it," Annabeth smiled at Hera cheekily.

Hera's eye twitched.

Meanwhile, Poseidon groaned. "Polyphemus? You mean you interact with Polyphemus?"

Percy smirked glumly. "Yeah, we do."

**"Poly-who?"**

**"The Cyclops!" Grover said, exasperated. "I almost got away. I made it all the way to St. Augustine."**

**"But he followed you," I said, remembering my first dream. "And trapped you in a bridal boutique."**

**"That's right," Grover said. "My first empathy link must've worked then. Look, this bridal dress is the only thing keeping me alive. He thinks I smell good, but I told him it was just goat-scented perfume. **

Aphrodite gasped. "Goat-scented perfume? Disgusting! Who would wear that?"

"Considering Polyphemus bought it, I'm guessing people actually wear it," Travis suggested.

"But Cyclopes aren't the sharpest blades in the shed," Annabeth stated.

**Thank goodness he can't see very well. His eye is still half blind from the last time somebody poked it out. **

"You mean nobody," Annabeth mumbled.

"What, Percy's not laughing?" Thalia asked.

Percy shrugged.

"I get it," Athena said.

"Really? Tell us!" Nico half-pleaded.

"You can find it out for yourself," Athena said.

"I'm starting to hate your mom," Nico whispered to Annabeth.

"I can hear you," Athena glared with her stormy grey eyes.

"Uh. . . .I was kidding. . . .?" He trailed off with an innocent smile.

**But soon he'll realize what I am. He's only giving me two weeks to finish the bridal train, and he's getting impatient!"**

**"Wait a minute. This Cyclops thinks you're—"**

**"Yes!" Grover wailed. "He thinks I'm a lady Cyclops and he wants to marry me!"**

Most of them tried to stifle their laughs.

**Under different circumstances, I might've bursted out laughing, but Grover's voice was deadly serious. He was shaking with fear.**

**"I'll come rescue you," I promised. "Where are you?"**

**"The Sea of Monsters, of course!"**

**"The sea of what?"**

"Oh Percy," Thalia shook her head.

"The sea of monsters is huge, how's he going to find a tiny satyr?" Artemis asked. "It's not like he's a hunter."

"Well, it was a lot of work," Annabeth said.

"But you did have help," Athena recalled clearly. "The Gray Sisters. They gave you the coordinates, didn't they?"

Percy smiled sheepishly.

**"I told you! I don't know exactly where! And look, Percy ... urn, I'm really sorry about this, but this empathy link ... well, I had no choice. Our emotions are connected now. If I die ..."**

**"Don't tell me, I'll die too."**

"WHAT?!" Poseidon and Nico yelled loudly.

"Uh… surprise?" Percy asked.

"Percy, what the?" Thalia raised her eyebrows.

"I don't know! That was the first thing that came to my mind!" Percy said.

Poseidon began pacing. "Great, just peachy!"

"Dad?" Percy asked.

"When he's not in danger, it just so happens he's in danger…"

"Can we please tie him down and tape his mouth?" Ares yawned.

"No," Everyone said in unison.

"Father, look, I'm safe and everything's fine." Percy said in a calming voice.

"Y-yeah, it's just… hard to read about what you've been through," Poseidon sighed, and sat back down.

"Oh, well, perhaps not. You might live for years in a vegetative state.

"Yeah, like that'd be any better," Percy scoffed.

**But, uh, it would be a lot better if you got me out of here."**

**"Honeypie!" the monster bellowed. "Dinnertime! Yummy yummy sheep meat!"**

**Grover whimpered. "I have to go. Hurry!"**

**"Wait! You said 'it' was here. What?"**

**But Grover's voice was already growing fainter. "Sweet dreams. Don't let me die!"**

"Ha, like I could ever have sweet dreams with him always interrupting them," Percy said, but he was smiling.

**The dream faded and I woke with a start. It was early morning. Tyson was staring down at me, his one big brown eye full of concern.**

**"Are you okay?" he asked.**

**His voice sent a chill down my back, because he sounded almost exactly like the monster I'd heard in my dream.**

"I wonder why," Thalia turned to Percy.

**The morning of the race was hot and humid. Fog lay low on the ground like sauna steam. Millions of birds were roosting in the trees—fat gray-and-white pigeons, except they didn't coo like regular pigeons. They made this annoying metallic screeching sound that reminded me of submarine radar.**

"Darn evil birds!" Travis made a face.

"Ugh, we're going to have to read about that? Just being there was pure horror," Connor shuddered.

"Sorry," Percy shrugged.

**The racetrack had been built in a grassy field between the archery range and the woods. Hephaestus's cabin had used the bronze bulls, which were completely tame since they'd had their heads smashed in, to plow an oval track in a matter of minutes.**

"Well done," Hephaestus said, smiling proudly at his son.

**There were rows of stone steps for the spectators— Tantalus, the satyrs, a few dryads, and all of the campers who weren't participating. Mr. D didn't show. He never got up before ten o'clock.**

All of the demigods looked at Dionysus.

"What?" He asked. "Being around you brats wears me out."

They rolled their eyes.

**"Right!" Tantalus announced as the teams began to assemble. A naiad had brought him a big platter of pastries, and as Tantalus spoke, his right hand chased a chocolate eclair across the judge's table. **

"It's so amusing to see him do that," Percy grinned.

"But it did get old rather fast," Travis said while Connor, Silena, and Beckendorf all nodded in agreement.

**"You all know the rules. A quarter-mile track. Twice around to win. Two horses per chariot. Each team will consist of a driver and a fighter. Weapons are allowed. Dirty tricks are expected. But try not to kill anybody!" Tantalus smiled at us like we were all naughty children. "Any killing will result in harsh punishment. No s'mores at the campfire for a week! Now ready your chariots!"**

"They're actually doing this?" Demeter shook her head.

"So? This is going to be entertaining!" Ares smirked.

"Don't you see, this is going to be dangerous!" Athena said.

"Exactly!"

"This is not good, it could tear everyone apart and cause problems," Athena rolled her eyes.

Ares was still smiling excitedly.

**Beckendorf led the Hephaestus team onto the track. They had a sweet ride made of bronze and iron—even the horses, which were magical automatons like the Colchis bulls. I had no doubt that their chariot had all kinds of mechanical traps and more fancy options than a fully loaded Maserati.**

Hephaestus smiled proudly at the description of his son's chariot.

**The Ares chariot was bloodred, and pulled by two grisly horse skeletons. **

"Oh yeah, this is going to be awesome!" Ares grinned.

"Nice horse skeletons," Hades and Nico said in unison.

**Clarisse climbed aboard with a batch of javelins, spiked balls, caltrops, and a bunch of other nasty toys.**

Ares grinned like a maniac.

**Apollo's chariot was trim and graceful and completely gold, pulled by two beautiful palominos. Their fighter was armed with a bow, though he had promised not to shoot regular pointed arrows at the opposing drivers.**

"Yeah! The Apollo chariot rules!" Apollo cheered.

**Hermes's chariot was green and kind of old-looking, as if it hadn't been out of the garage in years. It didn't look like anything special, but it was manned by the Stoll brothers, and I shuddered to think what dirty tricks they'd schemed up.**

"Heh," Connor and Travis grinned. "Thanks."

"Good job, boys," Hermes said with a grin.

**That left two chariots: one driven by Annabeth, and the other by me.**

Athena and Poseidon looked at each other with

**Before the race began, I tried to approach Annabeth and tell her about my dream.**

"That's not gonna work, Seaweed brain," Thalia said with a smirk. "Annabeth's going to think you're trying to distract her." She then glared at Annabeth. "Do you have to think he's always trying to distract you?"

Annabeth smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Thals," She said.

**She perked up when I mentioned Grover, but when I told her what he'd said, she seemed to get distant again, suspicious.**

"You're trying to distract me," she decided.

"You actually thought I would stoop so low?" Percy asked.

"I guess I was just a little bit paranoid," Annabeth said.

"I mean, if it was Connor or Travis, I would understand," Percy looked towards the brothers.

"Aww, thanks!" Connor patted Percy.

**"What? No I'm not!"**

**"Oh, right! Like Grover would just happen to stumble across the one thing that could save the camp."**

"Ironic how that's true," Annabeth smiled sheepishly.

**"What do you mean?"**

**She rolled her eyes. "Go back to your chariot, Percy."**

**"I'm not making this up. He's in trouble, Annabeth."**

**She hesitated. I could tell she was trying to decide whether or not to trust me. Despite our occasional fights, we'd been through a lot together. And I knew she would never want anything bad to happen to Grover.**

**"Percy, an empathy link is so hard to do. I mean, it's more likely you really were dreaming."**

"Or, you know, he did have an empathy link," Nico added.

"Yeah," Annabeth said. "I guess I should have listened to Percy for once,"

"Annabeth listening to Percy?" Thalia asked. "What have you done to my stubborn and smart friend?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "She was eaten by a huge pink whale,"

"Well, that was an interesting answer," Hermes chuckled.

**"The Oracle," I said. "We could consult the Oracle."**

**Annabeth frowned.**

**Last summer, before my quest, I'd visited the strange spirit that lived in the Big House attic and it had given me a prophecy that came true in ways I'd never expected. The experience had freaked me out for months. Annabeth knew I'd never suggest going back there if I wasn't completely serious.**

"Yeah, that thing gave me the creeps!" Percy agreed with himself.

"Hey! That's my oracle you're talking about," Apollo said. "Sure, she's a little… old, but nonetheless, awesome!"

"A little old? She's a mummy!" Annabeth exclaimed.

Apollo shrugged.

"I'm glad Rachel became the oracle," Nico said.

"Wait, someone living becomes the next oracle?" Apollo asked excitedly, and Hades looked up.

"You'll see later," Thalia said and Nico nodded enthusiastically beside her.

**Before she could answer, the conch horn sounded.**

**"Charioteers!" Tantalus called. "To your mark!"**

**"We'll talk later," Annabeth told me, "after I win."**

"Yeah, right," Ares, Hermes, Hephaestus, Apollo, and Poseidon said at the same time. "We all know it's my cabin that's going to win." They continued, looking at each other.

The demigods were perplexed, how could the gods stay so in unison without even trying?

**As I was walking back to my own chariot, I noticed how many more pigeons were in the trees now—screeching like crazy, making the whole forest rustle. Nobody else seemed to be paying them much attention, but they made me nervous. **

"Huh, looks like you're more observing than most people credit you for," Thalia commented.

**Their beaks glinted strangely. Their eyes seemed shinier than regular birds.**

**Tyson was having trouble getting our horses under control. I had to talk to them a long time before they would settle down.**

**He's a monster, lord! they complained to me.**

**He's a son of Poseidon, I told them. Just like ... well, just like me.**

**No! They insisted. Monster! Horse-eater! Not trusted!**

**I'll give you sugar cubes at the end of the race, I said.**

**Sugar cubes?**

**Very big sugar cubes. And apples. Did I mention the apples?**

"Mhmm, apples…" Nico licked his lips.

"Oh yeah, no more stealing from the pegasi!" Percy scolded.

The gods and goddesses watched this conversation in amusement.

"Aw, but –"

"Nuh uh, they kept complaining to me and it was super annoying, so you're out of luck."

**Finally they agreed to let me harness them.**

**Now, if you've never seen a Greek chariot, it's built for speed, not safety or comfort. It's basically a wooden basket, open at the back, mounted on an axle between two wheels. The driver stands up the whole time, and you can feel every bump in the road. The carriage is made of such light wood that if you wipe out making the hairpin turns at either end of the track, you'll probably tip over and crush both the chariot and yourself. **

"Uh, how fun," Nico said, but he looked a little nervous.

"Yup," Thalia agreed. She actually looked enthusiastic.

Percy looked at Nico, "It's almost as good as shadow travelling!"

Nico perked up a bit.

**It's an even better rush than skate boarding.**

**I took the reins and maneuvered the chariot to the starting line. I gave Tyson a ten-foot pole and told him that his job was to push the other chariots away if they got too close, and to deflect anything they might try to throw at us.**

"Huh, Tyson with a pole? Scary." Nico grinned.

"And awesome!" Percy said.

"But frightening when you going against him," Annabeth said.

"Come on, Annabeth, don't think like that," Thalia reprimanded.

**"No hitting ponies with the stick," he insisted.**

"Of course, hitting ponies are bad," Poseidon agreed as everyone chuckled.

**"No," I agreed. "Or people, either, if you can help it. We're going to run a clean race. Just keep the distractions away and let me concentrate on driving."**

**"We will win.'" He beamed.**

**We are so going to lose, **

"Glad to know you have great confidence in yourself," Annabeth said.

"It's alright; he's starting to get a smaller head!" Thalia joked.

Percy sighed. "I never had a big ego to start with!"

"Sure… whatever you say," Nico said.

"Yeah, whatever I say," Percy smirked.

**I thought to myself, but I had to try. I wanted to show the others ... well, I wasn't sure what, exactly. That Tyson wasn't such a bad guy? That I wasn't ashamed of being seen with him in public? Maybe that they hadn't hurt me with all their jokes and name-calling?**

"But they did hurt you with all the jokes and name-calling, right?" Annabeth asked.

"Maybe just a little," Percy rubbed his neck.

**As the chariots lined up, more shiny-eyed pigeons gathered in the woods. They were screeching so loudly the campers in the stands were starting to take notice, glancing nervously at the trees, which shivered under the weight of the birds. **

"How could no one notice it?" Thalia groaned.

"I guess everyone was just too absorbed in the chariot race," Annabeth said.

"Yeah, and I thought the birds weren't harmful," Percy mumbled. "That is, until they became killer birds and attacked everyone."

**Tantalus didn't look concerned, but he did have to speak up to be heard over the noise.**

**"Charioteers!" he shouted. "Attend your mark!"**

**He waved his hand and the starting signal dropped. The chariots roared to life. Hooves thundered against the dirt. The crowd cheered.**

**Almost immediately there was a loud nasty crack! I looked back in time to see the Apollo chariot flip over. The Hermes chariot had rammed into it—maybe by mistake, maybe not. **

"Oh man, we owned the Apollo team," the twins said as Apollo frowned.

**The riders were thrown free, but their panicked horses dragged the golden chariot diagonally across the track. The Hermes team, Travis and Connor Stoll, were laughing at their good luck, but not for long. The Apollo horses crashed into theirs, and the Hermes chariot flipped too, leaving a pile of broken wood and four rearing horses in the dust.**

"Now that sucked, but at least we took out a team," Connor said as Hermes frowned.

**Two chariots down in the first twenty feet. I loved this sport. **

"It is rather awesome, isn't it?" Apollo asked.

"Boys," Artemis said, shaking her head.

**I turned my attention back to the front. We were making good time, pulling ahead of Ares, but Annabeth's chariot was way ahead of us. **

**She was already making her turn around the first post, her javelin man grinning and waving at us, shouting: "See ya!"**

**The Hephaestus chariot was starting to gain on us, too.**

Beckendorf smiled as Hephaestus beamed.

Beckendorf pressed a button, and a panel slid open on the side of his chariot.

**"Sorry, Percy!" he yelled. Three sets of balls and chains shot straight toward our wheels. They would've wrecked us completely if Tyson hadn't whacked them aside with a quick swipe of his pole. He gave the Hephaestus chariot a good shove and sent them skittering sideways while we pulled ahead. **

"Awe," Hephaestus muttered.

**"Nice work, Tyson!" I yelled.**

**"Birds!" he cried.**

**"What?"**

"Oh, man," most of the demigods winced.

**We were whipping along so fast it was hard to hear or see anything, but Tyson pointed toward the woods and I saw what he was worried about. The pigeons had risen from the trees. They were spiraling like a huge tornado, heading toward the track.**

**No big deal, I told myself. They're just pigeons.**

"Just pigeons my ass," Thalia muttered.

"They're death birds!" Connor exclaimed.

"Yeah, eating flesh until there's nothing left, then moving on to it's next prey," Annabeth said.

"Don't you think you're… being a little overdramatic?" Hermes asked. "Have you been taking lessons from Zeus?"

"Hey!" Zeus said indignantly.

"No," Annabeth raised her eyebrows. "It's actually what they do, I'm not lying."

"Oh…"

**I tried to concentrate on the race. We made our first turn, the wheels creaking under us, the chariot threatening to tip, but we were now only ten feet behind Annabeth. If I could just get a little closer, Tyson could use his pole….**

**Annabeth's fighter wasn't smiling now. He pulled a javelin from his collection and took aim at me. He was about to throw when we heard the screaming.**

**The pigeons were swarming—thousands of them dive-bombing the spectators in the stands, attacking the other chariots. Beckendorf was mobbed. His fighter tried to bat the birds away but he couldn't see anything. The chariot veered off course and plowed through the strawberry fields, the mechanical horses steaming.**

Beckendorf shuddered. "Stupid birds,"

**In the Ares chariot, Clarisse barked an order to her fighter, who quickly threw a screen of camouflage netting over their basket. The birds swarmed around it, pecking and clawing at the fighter's hands as he tried to hold up the net, but Clarisse just gritted her teeth and kept driving. **

"Aw, she had a net! No fair," Travis frowned.

**Her skeletal horses seemed immune to the distraction. The pigeons pecked uselessly at their empty eye sockets and flew through their rib cages, but the stallions kept right on running.**

"Go skeletons!" Nico cheered.

**The spectators weren't so lucky. The birds were slashing at any bit of exposed flesh, driving everyone into a panic. Now that the birds were closer, it was clear they weren't normal pigeons. **

"No really? I thought all pigeons ate flesh," Thalia laughed.

**Their eyes were beady and evil-looking. Their beaks were made of bronze, and judging from the yelps of the campers, they must've been razor sharp.**

**"Stymphalian birds!" Annabeth yelled. She slowed down and pulled her chariot alongside mine. "They'll strip everyone to bones if we don't drive them away!"**

"Told ya I wasn't exaggerating," Annabeth told Hermes.

**"Tyson," I said, "we're turning around!"**

**"Going the wrong way?" he asked.**

**"Always," I grumbled, **

"Huh?"

**but I steered the chariot toward the stands.**

**Annabeth rode right next to me. She shouted, "Heroes, to arms!" But I wasn't sure anyone could hear her over the screeching of the birds and the general chaos.**

**I held my reins in one hand and managed to draw Riptide as a wave of birds dived at my face, their metal beaks snapping. I slashed them out of the air and they exploded into dust and feathers, but there were still millions of them left. One nailed me in the back end and I almost jumped straight out of the chariot.**

**Annabeth wasn't having much better luck. The closer we got to the stands, the thicker the cloud of birds became.**

"How are you going to get rid of all them?" Nico asked.

**Some of the spectators were trying to fight back. The Athena campers were calling for shields. The archers from Apollo's cabin brought out their bows and arrows, ready to slay the menace, but with so many campers mixed in with the birds, it wasn't safe to shoot.**

**"Too many!" I yelled to Annabeth. "How do you get rid of them?"**

**She stabbed at a pigeon with her knife. "Hercules used noise! Brass bells! He scared them away with the most horrible sound he could—" **

"Oh," Athena said. The Olympians looked towards her expectantly but she didn't say anything.

**Her eyes got wide. "Percy ... Chiron's collection!"**

**I understood instantly. "You think it'll work?"**

"Um… are you doing what I think you're doing?" Hermes asked.

**She handed her fighter the reins and leaped from her chariot into mine like it was the easiest thing in the world. **

Annabeth grinned. "It's really easy."

"Well, it looks hard to me," Percy said.

"That's cause you don't have experience like me."

Athena's eyes widened. "Please tell me that's only because of Camp that you know how to do that with such ease," she pleaded.

Annabeth smiled sheepishly.

**"To the Big House! It's our only chance!"**

**Clarisse has just pulled across the finish line, completely unopposed, and seemed to notice for the first time how serious the bird problem was.**

**When she saw us driving away, she yelled, "You're running? The fight is here, cowards!" **

The demigods rolled their eyes.

**She drew her sword and charged for the stands.**

**I urged our horses into a gallop. The chariot rumbled through the strawberry fields, across the volleyball pit, and lurched to a halt in front of the Big House. Annabeth and I ran inside, tearing down the hallway to Chiron's apartment.**

**His boom box was still on his nightstand. So were his favorite CDs. I grabbed the most repulsive one I could find, **

"Are all of Chiron's music that bad?" Poseidon asked amusedly.

"Yup," Apollo said.

"How would you know?" Hermes asked suspiciously.

"It's my duty to know what kind of music people listen to," Apollo said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"No it isn't," Artemis said.

**Annabeth snatched the boom box, and together we ran back outside.**

**Down at the track, the chariots were in flames. Wounded campers ran in every direction, with birds shred ding their clothes and pulling out their hair, while Tantalus chased breakfast pastries around the stands, every once in a while yelling, "Everything's under control! Not to worry.'"**

"Is he stupid? Everything isn't under control and you should be worrying!" Hera grumbled.

**We pulled up to the finish line. Annabeth got the boom box ready. I prayed the batteries weren't dead.**

**I pressed PLAY and started up Chiron's favorite—the All-Time Greatest Hits of Dean Martin. Suddenly the air was filled with violins and a bunch of guys moaning in Italian.**

"How very descriptive," Hermes snorted.

"Remind me to get rid of Chiron's music," Thalia said.

"Will do." Nico said.

"Hey, Thalia?" Connor asked innocently.

"Don't. You. Even. Say it." She glared at him.

**The demon pigeons went nuts. They started flying in circles, running into each other like they wanted to bash their own brains out. **

Apollo and Hermes burst into laughter.

**Then they abandoned the track altogether and flew skyward in a huge dark wave.**

**"Now!" shouted Annabeth. "Archers!"**

**With clear targets, Apollo's archers had flawless aim. **

"Duh! My children are too awesome like that," Apollo grinned.

**Most of them could notch five or six arrows at once. Within minutes, the ground was littered with dead bronze-beaked pigeons, and the survivors were a distant trail of smoke on the horizon.**

"Go Apollo campers!" many people cheered.

**The camp was saved, but the wreckage wasn't pretty. Most of the chariots had been completely destroyed. **

"Hopefully they won't be doing anymore chariot racing," Demeter said.

"Don't count on that," Ares said.

**Almost everyone was wounded, bleeding from multiple bird pecks. The kids from Aphrodite's cabin were screaming because their hairdos had been ruined and their clothes pooped on.**

"Man, do I want to see that!" Nico exclaimed.

Aphrodite frowned.

"It was awful," Silena cried.

**"Bravo!" Tantalus said, but he wasn't looking at me or Annabeth. "We have our first winner!" He walked to the finish line and awarded the golden laurels for the race to a stunned-looking Clarisse.**

"Dude, everyone just got attacked by flesh-eating birds and all he cares about is who won?" Apollo asked.

"Aw well, Clarisse won," Ares smirked.

"Yeah, but it wasn't fair," Athena reminded him.

**Then he turned and smiled at me. "And now to punish the troublemakers who disrupted this race."**

"What? But you guys saved everyone! What a stupid guy," Nico muttered.

"Exactly what we've been trying to say all along," Annabeth said.

"Tantalus," Poseidon muttered. "I wanna blast him to pieces…"

"We should probably just read one more chapter and call it a night," Demeter suggested, drawing the attention off of Tantalus.

"I'm sure they want to catch up on stuff too," Aphrodite said.

Zeus nodded in agreement.


	8. Chapter 8

**"I Accept Gifts from a Stranger,"** Beckendorf read.

"You know, doesn't that seem… suspicious?" Nico asked.

"Yeah, hasn't Sally ever taught you to not talk to strangers?" Thalia scolded.

"Well, I don't know if you would call that person a stranger…" Percy said slyly.

"Uh!" Poseidon groaned. "Again with all the confusing secrecy!"

**The way Tantalus saw it, the Stymphalian birds had simply been minding their own business in the woods and would not have attacked if Annabeth, Tyson, and I hadn't disturbed them with our bad chariot driving.**

"That's a bunch of bologna!" Poseidon called out.

"No, I think that's a book," Connor said.

"So, technically, wouldn't it be a 'bunch of words'?" Travis added.

"Actually, I think Lord Poseidon means that it's not true," Annabeth stated.

"Oh, well… why didn't he just say so?"

**This was so completely unfair, I told Tantalus to go chase a doughnut, **

"Haha, awesome insult," Connor and Travis praised while Athena 'tsked' at Percy.

"That will only make matters worse," Athena said.

**which didn't help his mood. He sentenced us to kitchen patrol—scrubbing pots and platters all afternoon in the underground kitchen with the cleaning harpies. **

"WHOA!" Nico said, "Hold on. The kitchen's underground?" He asked.

Everyone looked at him. "Ye-es," they said, stretching out the word.

Nico gaped. "How did I not know that?" He sat back in his chair, amazed at how this little fact slipped his mind. He kept muttering that to himself.

"Hey, Nico...?" Thalia said. "You'll find out more if you be quiet and listen to the story."

Everyone could here the underlying threat beneath her words and Nico shut his mouth before she could zap him.

**The harpies washed with lava instead of water, to get that extra-clean sparkle and kill ninety-nine point nine percent of all germs, "Whoa-" Nico said, but cut off as soon as Thalia glared at him. so Annabeth and I had to wear asbestos gloves and aprons. Tyson didn't mind. He plunged his bare hands right in and started scrubbing, but Annabeth and I had to suffer through hours of hot, dangerous work, especially since there were tons of extra plates. **

"Tyson's such a lucky duck," Percy sighed.

"Actually, he's a lucky Cyclopes," Annabeth corrected. "But yeah, I didn't like the gloves...they felt really weird against my hands."

Percy nodded beside her.

**Tantalus had ordered a special luncheon banquet to celebrate Clarisse's chariot victory—a full-course meal featuring country-fried Stymphalian death-bird.**

**The only good thing about our punishment was that it gave Annabeth and me a common enemy and lots of time to talk. **

**After listening to my dream about Grover again, she looked like she might be starting to believe me.**

"Finally," Nico said.

**"If he's really found it," she murmured, "and if we could retrieve it—"**

**"Hold on," I said. "You act like this ... whatever-it-is Grover found is the only thing in the world that could save the camp. **

"Because it is," Thalia said along with a few of the other gods and goddesses.

**What is it?"**

**"I'll give you a hint. What do you get when you skin a ram?"**

**"Mess?"**

Most people laughed, except for Athena.

"Such a sea spawn…" Athena muttered.

"Lady Athena, you know you like me," Percy smiled sincerely.

"No, I really don't," Athena sighed.

"Don't worry, by the end of this series, you'll think I'm a great guy."

"Do I hear a bet?" Travis perked up.

"No Travis, it's not a bet," Silena rolled her eyes.

"Besides Lady Athena, you can hear my thoughts so it's not like I can hide anything from you."

"Fine, we'll see what kind of person you are," Athena said determinedly.

**She sighed. "A fleece. The coat of a ram is called a fleece. And if that ram happens to have golden wool—"**

**"The Golden Fleece. Are you serious?"**

"No, the fleece is actually pink and sparkly with pictures of hyper unicorns on it," Nico said.

"I'm really starting to enjoy your sarcastic comments," Apollo grinned.

"Pink fleece? That would be awesome!" Silena squealed.

"Ooh, Unicorns too!" Aphrodite joined in.

"I bet it would totally match my shoes."

Everyone looked at her shoes. Oh, there were pink and sparkly too.

**Annabeth scrapped a plateful of death-bird bones into the lava. "Percy, remember the Gray Sisters? **

"How could I forget?" Percy shuddered.

**They said they knew the location of the thing you seek. And they mentioned Jason. Three thousand years ago, they told him how to find the Golden Fleece. You do know the story of Jason and the Argonauts?"**

**"Yeah," I said. "That old movie with the clay skeletons."**

"They should have used real skeletons," Nico smiled.

"Well, not everyone can conjure up an army of undead skeletons with a flick of their hand," Percy said.

"Ah, the perks of being a son of Hades."

**Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Oh my gods, Percy! You are so hopeless."**

**"What?" I demanded.**

**"Just listen. The real story of the Fleece: there were these two children of Zeus, Cadmus and Europa, okay? They were about to get offered up as human sacrifices, when they prayed to Zeus to save them. So Zeus sent this magical flying ram with golden wool,**

"You make it sound like some fairytale out of a book," Zeus grumbled.

"Well, I did think that was a myth before," Percy said.

"And I was just telling the truth. It was a magical flying ram with golden wool." Annabeth added.

**which picked them up in Greece and carried them all the way to Colchis in Asia Minor. Well, actually it carried Cadmus. Europa fell off and died along the way, but that's not important."**

**"It was probably important to her."**

"True…" Connor said.

"Annabeth, you're so insensitive!" Travis pretended to be disappointed.

Annabeth rolled her eyes at the antics of the brothers.

**"The point is, when Cadmus got to Colchis, he sacrificed the golden ram to the gods and hung the Fleece in a tree in the middle of the kingdom. The Fleece brought prosperity to the land. Animals stopped getting sick. Plants grew better. Farmers had bumper crops. Plagues never visited. That's why Jason wanted the Fleece. It can revitalize any land where it's placed. It cures sickness, strengthens nature, cleans up pollution—"**

**"It could cure Thalia's tree."**

Zeus perked up at the mention of curing his daughter.

"And do much more too," Thalia grumbled.

**Annabeth nodded. "And it would totally strengthen the borders of Camp Half-Blood. But Percy, the Fleece has been missing for centuries. Tons of heroes have searched for it with no luck."**

**"But Grover found it," I said. "He went looking for Pan and he found the Fleece instead because they both radiate nature magic. It makes sense, Annabeth. We can rescue him and save the camp at the same time. It's perfect!"**

**Annabeth hesitated. "A little too perfect, don't you think? What if it's a trap?"**

"Either way, you have to go rescue Grover," Thalia said.

"Unless you wanna leave that old goat there," Zeus smiled.

Annabeth was about to say something but Percy put his hand out to stop her. "First of all, Grover's not a goat, he's a satyr. Second of all, he's not old at all. Third of all, we did go rescue him."

Zeus scowled and Annabeth said "Wow, you're sounding more like me everyday,"

"Oh no, Percy's being Annified! We're going to lose our friend!" Connor yelled.

"We must save him before he becomes even worse!" Travis said.

"What could be worse than Annified?" Connor asked. They shared a look.

"Thalified! NO! It will not happen." They said together.

Annabeth raised her eyebrows. "Annified?"

Thalia raised an eyebrow. "Thalified?" She asked.

Percy gasped. "Wise Girl doesn't know a word?"

"Well obviously not if it's made up," Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Point taken," Percy said settling back down.

**I remembered last summer, how Kronos had manipulated our quest. He'd almost fooled us into helping him start a war that would've destroyed Western Civilization.**

**"What choice do we have?" I asked. "Are you going to help me rescue Grover or not?"**

**She glanced at Tyson, who'd lost interest in our conversation and was happily making toy boats out of cups and spoons in the lava.**

**"Percy," she said under her breath, "we'll have to fight a Cyclops. Polyphemus, the worst of the Cyclopes.**

Poseidon sucked in a deep breath. "Tell me you actually didn't fight him,"

"Uh…" Percy said blankly, looking to Annabeth for help.

"Nobody did," she said with a shrug. Poseidon let out his breath slowly.

Beckendorf quickly continued reading.

**And there's only one place his island could be. The Sea of Monsters."**

**"Where's that?"**

**She stared at me like she thought I was playing dumb.**

"He doesn't need to play dumb," Athena muttered under her breath. Luckily no one heard.

**"The Sea of Monsters. The same sea Odysseus sailed through, and Jason, and Aeneas, and all the others."**

**"You mean the Mediterranean?"**

**"No. Well, yes ... but no."**

"Another straight answer. Thanks."

"It's so irritating when people don't give you straight answers," Hermes said.

"Well, if you want the right answer, it's not always going to be simple." Annabeth lectured.

"Jeez, it's bad enough we have one Athena here, but now we have two," Apollo sighed.

**"Look, Percy, the Sea of Monsters is the sea all heroes sail through on their adventures. It used to be in the Mediterranean, yes. But like everything else, it shifts locations as the West's center of power shifts."**

**"Like Mount Olympus being above the Empire State Building," I said. "And Hades being under Los Angeles."**

"I hate being under Los Angeles," Hades muttered.

"Why?" Hestia asked curiously.

"But they have awesome parties every night!" Apollo interrupted.

"Exactly, just thinking of being so close to all the noise gives me a headache," Hades grumbled.

"Right."

"But a whole sea full of monsters—how could you hide something like that? Wouldn't the mortals notice weird things happening ... like, ships getting eaten and stuff?"

"Of course they notice. They don't understand, but they know something is strange about that part of the ocean. The Sea of Monsters is off the east coast of the U.S. now, just northeast of Florida. The mortals even have a name for it."

"The Bermuda Triangle?"

"The Sea of Monsters is in the Bermuda Triangle?" Nico asked incredulously.

"Haven't you been paying attention?" Percy asked, whacking Nico playfully. "Of course it is."

"Oh, okay then, no need to get violent on me."

**"Exactly."**

**I let that sink in. I guess it wasn't stranger than any thing else I'd learned since coming to Camp Half-Blood. "Okay ... so at least we know where to look."**

**"It's still a huge area, Percy. Searching for one tiny island in monster-infested waters—"**

**"Hey, I'm the son of the sea god. This is my home turf. How hard can it be?"**

"Very hard?" Connor suggested.

"Well, it would have been, if I didn't have awesome water powers," Percy said.

Everyone just stared at him.

"Fine, it was hard." Then he added in a whisper, "but only because of Clarisse."

Annabeth elbowed him.

**Annabeth knit her eyebrows. "We'll have to talk to Tantalus, get approval for a quest. He'll say no."**

**"Not if we tell him tonight at the campfire in front of everybody. The whole camp will hear. They'll pressure him. He won't be able to refuse."**

"Good idea," Athena nodded begrudgingly.

"Ha, well I'm sure that worked out well," Thalia looked at Percy.

**"Maybe." A little bit of hope crept into Annabeth's voice. "We'd better get these dishes done. Hand me the lava spray gun, will you?"**

**That night at the campfire, Apollo's cabin led the sing-along. **

"Why is it always the Apollo Cabin that leads it?" Nico asked.

"Probably because they're the only cabin that can and want to sing," Annabeth shrugged.

"Don't forget that the Apollo cabin is the best!" Apollo cheered.

**They tried to get everybody's spirits up, but it wasn't easy after that afternoon's bird attack. We all sat around a semicircle of stone steps, singing halfheartedly and watching the bonfire blaze while the Apollo guys strummed their guitars and picked their lyres.**

**We did all the standard camp numbers: "Down by the Aegean," "I Am My Own Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandpa," "This Land is Minos's Land."**

"My favorite is Down by the Aegean," Silena said, and Connor nodded.

Travis on the other hand said, "My favorite is I Am My Own Great-Great-Great-Great Grandpa."

"You only like that one because you like to act like a dork for Katie," Annabeth said.

"That's not true!" Travis blushed.

"They never sing my favorite," Beckendorf said gruffly.

"Which one's that?" Thalia asked as Silena giggled.

"The Great Fire-Maned Pegasus," he said, causing everyone to burst out laughing.

Annabeth's eyes lit up. "I remember that one!" She said. "I loved that one, but we only did it in November." She frowned.

**The bonfire was enchanted, so the louder you sang, the higher it rose, changing color and heat with the mood of the crowd. On a good night, I'd seen it twenty feet high, bright purple, and so hot the whole front row's marshmallows burst into the flames. Tonight, the fire was only five feet high, barely warm, and the flames were the color of lint.**

"Someone's not very happy…" Aphrodite frowned. "We need more love in this world,"

"They would be happy if they just ate some cereal!" Demeter said.

"I don't think cereal would help our problems," Beckendorf admitted.

"Don't be silly, cereal solves everything!"

**Dionysus left early. After suffering through a few songs, he muttered something about how even pinochle with Chiron had been more exciting than this. **

"And I agree with myself," Dionysus drawled.

"But this happens in the future," Connor looked confused.

"Well, I agree with my future self, then, Cole." He said with a sneer.

**Then he gave Tantalus a distasteful look and headed back toward the Big House.**

**When the last song was over, Tantalus said, "Well, that was lovely!"**

"I bet he means that it was torture," Travis said.

"Why does he even pretend to be all peppy? It disgusts me," Thalia scowled.

**He came forward with a toasted marshmallow on a stick and tried to pluck it off, real casual-like. But before he could touch it, the marshmallow flew off the stick. Tantalus made a wild grab, but the marshmallow committed suicide, diving into the flames.**

Everyone burst into laughter.

"The marshmallow committed suicide!" Thalia chuckled.

**"If I were the marshmallow, I probably would too. Being eaten by Tantalus is not high on my to-do list," Percy smirked.**

**Tantalus turned back toward us, smiling coldly. "Now then! Some announcements about tomorrow's schedule."**

**"Sir," I said.**

**Tantalus's eye twitched. "Our kitchen boy has some thing to say?"**

Percy scowled along with Poseidon.

**Some of the Ares campers snickered, but I wasn't going to let anybody embarrass me into silence. I stood and looked at Annabeth. Thank the gods, she stood up with me.**

"Duh, it not like she was going to let you have the entire spotlight," Nico smiled.

"Ooh, Nico wants attention?" Percy taunted.

"Fine, next time, don't expect me to be standing beside you, especially in a battle."

"Aww, I was kidding," Percy pouted.

"Yeah, Percy's nothing without you!" Thalia said for great measure.

"Don't need to go that far, Thals," Percy said.

"Oh, we all know it," Nico grinned as he pecked him on the cheek.

"Get a room!" Hermes joked.

"Get a girlfriend," Percy retorted.

"Little Hermes just got burned," Apollo laughed as Hermes frowned.

**I said, "We have an idea to save the camp."**

**Dead silence, but I could tell I'd gotten everybody's interest, because the campfire flared bright yellow.**

**"Indeed," Tantalus said blandly. "Well, if it has anything to do with chariots—"**

**"The Golden Fleece," I said. "We know where it is."**

"You honestly know where it is?"

"Of course he knows where it is," Athena said. "The Gray Sisters gave them all the information they needed. Now, Annabeth just has to announce what those numbers were."

"Yup," Percy said proudly, then hesitated. "Wait, why Annabeth? Why not me?"

"Just get over it, Percy," All the demigods said in unison.

**The flames burned orange. Before Tantalus could stop me, I blurted out my dream about Grover and Polyphemus's island. Annabeth stepped in and reminded everybody what the Fleece could do. It sounded more convincing coming from her.**

**"The Fleece can save the camp," she concluded. "I'm certain of it."**

**"Nonsense," said Tantalus. "We don't need saving."**

"Are you kidding me?" Thalia practically screeched. "I'm freaking dying and the borders are weakening! YET HE HAS THE NERVE TO SAY THAT WE DON'T NEED SAVING?"

"I never liked Tantalus," Zeus scowled.

**Everybody stared at him until Tantalus started looking uncomfortable.**

"That's right Tantalus! Take in all the stares!" Connor blurted out as everyone looked at him oddly.

**"Besides," he added quickly, "the Sea of Monsters? That's hardly an exact location. You wouldn't even know where to look."**

**"Yes, I would," I said.**

"No," Athena said, her eyes going from Annabeth to Percy.

Poseidon grinned, My son figured something out before Owlhead's.

**Annabeth leaned toward me and whispered, "You would?"**

**I nodded, because Annabeth had jogged something in my memory when she reminded me about our taxi drive with the Gray Sisters. At the time, the information they'd given me made no sense. But now...**

**"30, 31, 75, 12," I said.**

"YOU figured it out?" Athena said incredulously. "I-it's not possible."

Percy grinned.

**"Ooo-kay," Tantalus said. "Thank you for sharing those meaningless numbers."**

"Tantalus is the meaningless one here," Travis rolled his eyes.

"They're sailing coordinates," I said. "Latitude and longitude. I, uh, learned about it in social studies."

"You see, listening in class does help!" Annabeth told Percy.

Percy shuddered. "That was one time, when I couldn't fall asleep. It was torture!"

**Even Annabeth looked impressed. "30 degrees, 31 minutes north, 75 degrees, 12 minutes west. He's right! The Gray Sisters gave us those coordinates. That'd be somewhere in the Atlantic, off the coast of Florida. The Sea of Monsters. We need a quest!"**

**"Wait just a minute," Tantalus said.**

**But the campers took up the chant. "We need a quest! We need a quest!"**

**The flames rose higher.**

**"It isn't necessary!" Tantalus insisted.**

**"WE NEED A QUEST! WE NEED A QUEST!"**

**"Fine!" Tantalus shouted, his eyes blazing with anger. "You brats want me to assign a quest?"**

"That couldn't be it at all. Everyone was shouting We need a quest because they wanted bananas." Travis shouted irritatedly at the book, receiving many strange, worried glances.

"Honestly, this guy has a brain the size of a macaroni." Nico groaned.

"And even that's a compliment," Connor said.

**"YES!"**

**"Very well," he agreed. "I shall authorize a champion to undertake this perilous journey, to retrieve the Golden Fleece and bring it back to camp. Or die trying."**

"He's just bursting with optimism, isn't he…" Hades said deadpanned.

"And you are?" Hephaestus commented. "You look dead,"

"He's the god of the Underworld," Zeus shook his head.

"That's still no reason to look dead," Hephaestus said.

"Aphrodite's rubbing off on you too much," Demeter said.

**My heart filled with excitement. I wasn't going to let Tantalus scare me. This was what I needed to do. I was going to save Grover and the camp. Nothing would stop me.**

"Nothing would stop me," Percy repeated, smiling.

**"I will allow our champion to consult the Oracle!" Tantalus announced. "And choose two companions for the journey. And I think the choice of champion is obvious."**

**Tantalus looked at Annabeth and me as if he wanted to flay us alive.**

"He probably did," Apollo chimed in.

"Nice to know," Poseidon growled.

**"The champion should be one who has earned the camp's respect, who has proven resourceful in the chariot races and courageous in the defense of the camp. You shall lead this quest ... Clarisse!"**

"CLARISSE?" Most of the Olympians shouted in disbelief, except for Ares, who of course was beaming with pride.

"Yeah," all the demigods responded in monotone.

"But I thought you went on the quest?" Poseidon looked confused. Maybe my son won't have to risk his life and go on the quest!

"I did," Percy grinned.

Darn, Poseidon thought sadly.

**The fire flickered a thousand different colors. The Ares cabin started stomping and cheering, "CLARISSE! CLARISSE!"**

**Clarisse stood up, looking stunned. Then she swallowed, and her chest swelled with pride. "I accept the quest!"**

"YEAH! GO CLARISSE!" Ares cheered.

**"Wait!" I shouted. "Grover is my friend. The dream came to me."**

**"Sit down!" yelled one of the Ares campers. "You had your chance last summer!"**

**"Yeah, he just wants to be in the spotlight again!" another said.**

"They honestly thought I wanted to be in the spotlight?" Percy scoffed. "It's not like I purposely wanted Zeus to blame me for stealing his lightning bolt, or go to the Underworld."

Some of the Olympians looked at him sympathetically.

**Clarisse glared at me. "I accept the quest!" she repeated. "I, Clarisse, daughter of Ares, will save the camp!"**

**The Ares campers cheered even louder. Annabeth protested, and the other Athena campers joined in. Everybody else started taking sides—shouting and arguing and throwing marshmallows. I thought it was going to turn into a full-fledged s'more war until Tantalus shouted, "Silence, you brats!"**

"Hey, he took my line!" Dionysus frowned.

"Yeah, you do say that a lot…" Beckendorf murmured.

**His tone stunned even me.**

**"Sit down!" he ordered. "And I will tell you a ghost story."**

**I didn't know what he was up to, but we all moved reluctantly back to our seats. The evil aura radiating from Tantalus was as strong as any monster I'd ever faced.**

**"Once upon a time there was a mortal king who was beloved of the Gods!" Tantalus put his hand on his chest, and I got the feeling he was talking about himself.**

"Yeah, he's talking about himself," Poseidon sighed tiredly.

**"This king," he said, "was even allowed to feast on Mount Olympus. But when he tried to take some ambrosia and nectar back to earth to figure out the recipe—just one little doggie bag, mind you—the gods punished him. **

"Of course we would!" Zeus exclaimed.

**They banned him from their halls forever! His own people mocked him! His children scolded him! And, oh yes, campers, he had horrible children. Children—just—like— you."**

**He pointed a crooked finger at several people in the audience, including me.**

"I hope he wasn't thinking of making Percy stew," Hera said, but she looked excited at the thought.

Poseidon and Nico growled.

**"Do you know what he did to his ungrateful children?" Tantalus asked softly. "Do you know how he paid back the gods for their cruel punishment? He invited the Olympians to a feast at his palace, just to show there were no hard feelings. No one noticed that his children were missing. And when he served the gods dinner, my dear campers, can you guess what was in the stew?"**

Aphrodite gagged just at the thought.

"That is so disgusting!" Silena stuck out her tongue disgustedly.

**No one dared answer. The firelight glowed dark blue, reflecting evilly on Tantalus's crooked face.**

**"Oh, the gods punished him in the afterlife," Tantalus croaked. "They did indeed. But he'd had his moment of satisfaction, hadn't he? His children never again spoke back to him or questioned his authority. **

"Yeah, that's because they couldn't!" Connor scowled.

**And do you know what? Rumor has it that the king's spirit now dwells at this very camp, waiting for a chance to take revenge on ungrateful, rebellious children. **

"Doesn't this sound just a little bit suspicious to you?" Artemis asked everyone.

"Well, I don't think he's going sneak into someone's cabin and make them into stew," Zeus said sceptically.

"Actually, that's what we all thought," Travis said.

"Yeah, the Aphrodite cabin barricaded the door that night," Silena shivered.

"And we installed a fool-proof lock on ours," Beckendorf added.

"Paranoid much?" Hera asked.

"No, everyone was actually scared that Tantalus would barge into our cabins in the middle of the night and try to eat us," Travis said.

The Olympians were either giving Travis weird looks or looking worried.

**And so ... are there any more complaints, before we send Clarisse off on her quest?"**

**Silence.**

**Tantalus nodded at Clarisse. "The Oracle, my dear. Go on."**

**She shifted uncomfortably, like even she didn't want glory at the price of being Tantalus's pet. "Sir—"**

**"Go!" he snarled.**

**She bowed awkwardly and hurried off toward the Big House.**

**"What about you, Percy Jackson?" Tantalus asked. "No comments from our dishwasher?"**

**I didn't say anything. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of punishing me again.**

"Sure… You weren't scared at all," Thalia said.

"I wasn't…" Percy objected.

**"Good," Tantalus said. "And let me remind everyone— no one leaves this camp without my permission. **

Everyone looked towards Percy and Annabeth.

Percy grinned sheepishly. "Why are you guys looking at me like that, you should all know that I have a tendency to not follow the rules"

"Yeah that's true," they all turned their stares to Annabeth.

"Well, Tantalus was really irritating." Annabeth said. "I just wanted to get the fleece and shove it up his face for trying to tell us what to do."

**Anyone who tries ... well, if they survive the attempt, they will be expelled forever, but it won't come to that. The harpies will be enforcing curfew from now on, and they are always hungry! Good night, my dear campers. Sleep well."**

**With a wave of Tantalus's hand, the fire was extinguished, and the campers trailed off toward their cabins in the dark.**

**I couldn't explain things to Tyson. He knew I was sad. He knew I wanted to go on a trip and Tantalus wouldn't let me.**

**"You will go anyway?" he asked.**

**"I don't know," I admitted. "It would be hard. Very hard."**

**"I will help."**

**"No. I—uh, I couldn't ask you to do that, big guy. Too dangerous."**

"Seriously, too dangerous?" Thalia said.

"I think Tyson can take care of himself. It's you that everyone has to worry about," Annabeth smiled.

"Yeah, I guess having Tyson along helped a lot." Percy admitted.

**Tyson looked down at the pieces of metal he was assembling in his lap—springs and gears and tiny wires. Beckendorf had given him some tools and spare parts, and now Tyson spent every night tinkering, though I wasn't sure how his huge hands could handle such delicate little pieces.**

**"What are you building?" I asked.**

**Tyson didn't answer. Instead he made a whimpering sound in the back of his throat. "Annabeth doesn't like Cyclopes. You ... don't want me along?"**

**"Oh, that's not it," I said halfheartedly. "Annabeth likes you. Really."**

"Well, I wasn't exactly fond of him, but I like him now," Annabeth said.

**He had tears in the corners of his eye.**

Poseidon looked a little saddened for his Cyclopes son.

**I remembered that Grover, like all satyrs, could read human emotions. I wondered if Cyclopes had the same ability.**

"No," Annabeth, Poseidon and Hephaestus informed Percy.

**Tyson folded up his tinkering project in an oilcloth. He lay down on his bunk bed and hugged his bundle like a teddy bear. **

"Aw, that sounds so cute," Aphrodite said softly.

"Yeah, well, that's Tyson for you. A teddy bear with a big heart," Percy murmured.

**When he turned toward the wall, I could see the weird scars on his back, like somebody had plowed over him with a tractor.**

"That doesn't seem too good," Apollo commented sadly.

Everyone looked at him with a face that said No really?

**I wondered for the millionth time how he'd gotten hurt.**

**"Daddy always cared for m-me," he sniffled. "Now ... I think he was mean to have a Cyclops boy. I should not have been born."**

Poseidon looked guilty.

Even though Hera didn't like demigods or monsters that weren't supposed to be born, she couldn't help but feel bad for the poor monster.

**"Don't talk that way! Poseidon claimed you, didn't he? So ... he must care about you ... a lot..."**

"I do…" Poseidon croaked. "It's just kind of hard to show it,"

**My voice trailed off as I thought about all those years Tyson had lived on the streets of New York in a cardboard refrigerator box. How could Tyson think that Poseidon had cared for him? What kind of dad let that happen to his kid, even if his kid was a monster?**

Poseidon looked at his feet in shame. Percy felt the urge to go comfort his dad, but decided not to because a) It would be kind of awkward, they hadn't really gotten to the hugging all the time stage and b) His dad needed to hear the cold hard truth.

**"Tyson ... camp will be a good home for you. The others will get used to you. I promise."**

**Tyson sighed. I waited for him to say something. Then I realized he was already asleep.**

**I lay back on my bed and tried to close my eyes, but I just couldn't. I was afraid I might have another dream about Grover. If the empathy link was real ... if something happened to Grover ... would I ever wake up?**

**The full moon shone through my window. The sound of the surf rumbled in the distance. I could smell the warm scent of the strawberry fields, and hear the laughter of the dryads as they chased owls **

"Chased owls?" Athena questioned.

**through the forest. But something felt wrong about the night—the sickness of Thalia's tree, spreading across the valley.**

**Could Clarisse save Half-Blood Hill? I thought the odds were better of me getting a "Best Camper" award from Tantalus.**

"Oh have some faith in Clarisse," Ares grumbled. "She can get the fleece,"

**I got out of bed and pulled on some clothes. I grabbed a beach blanket and a six-pack of Coke from under my bunk. The Cokes were against the rules. No outside snacks or drinks were allowed, but if you talked to the right guy in Hermes's cabin **

"Us," the Stoll brothers said at the same time all the other demigods said "Them,"

**and paid him a few golden drachma, he could smuggle in almost anything from the nearest convenience store.**

**Sneaking out after curfew was against the rules, too. If I got caught I'd either get in big trouble or be eaten by the harpies. **

"That would be sad," Connor smirked.

"Yeah, surviving the Underworld, Lotus Casino, and Medusa, only to be eaten by harpies for staying out after curfew," Travis said, causing laughter to erupt.

**But I wanted to see the ocean. I always felt better there. My thoughts were clearer. I left the cabin and headed for the beach.**

"So that's why you always pend so much of your free time down by the shore..." Nico said. "And here I thought you were just a beach bum." He smiled at Percy. While remembering all the times he was at the beach with Percy

Percy smiled back. Also remembering those times with Nico.

**I spread my blanket near the surf and popped open a Coke. For some reason sugar and caffeine always calmed down my hyperactive brain. I tried to decide what to do to save the camp, but nothing came to me. I wished Poseidon would talk to me, give me some advice or something. **

"Something tells me you'll get some help," Poseidon said.

**The sky was clear and starry. I was checking out the constellations Annabeth had taught me—Sagittarius, Hercules, Corona Borealis—when somebody said, "Beautiful, aren't they?"**

"Who could that be?" Hermes asked.

"Oh look, here comes the strangers bearing gifts," Thalia said.

"Reminds me of Santa Clause," Nico said.

"No, I tackle him later." Percy said.

**I almost spewed soda.**

**Standing right next to me was a guy in nylon running shorts and a New York City Marathon T-shirt. He was slim and fit, with salt-and-pepper hair and a sly smile. He looked kind of familiar, but I couldn't figure out why.**

"What would I be doing there?" Hermes asked out loud.

"This is you? Oh, it figures," Demeter said.

"So you're the stranger!" Connor and Travis said in unison.

"Well it looks like it."

**My first thought was that he must've been taking a mid night jog down the beach and strayed inside the camp borders. That wasn't supposed to happen. Regular mortals couldn't enter the valley. **

Hermes looked offended. "You just called me a mortal!"

"Sorry, you didn't introduce yourself," Percy shrugged.

"It's okay; I'm going to let it slip one time, just because you're so cool."

"Did ya hear that? Even Hermes thinks I'm cool," Percy grinned.

Everyone rolled their eyes.

**But maybe with the tree's magic weakening he'd managed to slip in. But in the middle of the night? And there was nothing around except farmland and state preserves. Where would this guy have jogged from?**

**"May I join you?" he asked. "I haven't sat down in ages."**

**Now, I know—a strange guy in the middle of the night. Common sense: I was supposed to run away, yell for help, etc. But the guy acted so calm about the whole thing that I found it hard to be afraid.**

"If it weren't Lord Hermes, he'd probably kidnap you." Thalia said.

**I said, "Uh, sure."**

**He smiled. "Your hospitality does you credit. Oh, and Coca-Cola! May I?"**

**He sat at the other end of the blanket, popped a soda and took a drink. "Ah ... that hits the spot. Peace and quiet at—"**

**A cell phone went off in his pocket.**

"So much for peace and quiet," Hermes grumbled.

**The jogger sighed. He pulled out his phone and my eyes got big, because it glowed with a bluish light. When he extended the antenna, two creatures began writhing around it—green snakes, no bigger than earthworms.**

Hey look! The kid mentions us! A male voice said.

Stop acting like a little kid A female voice snapped.

"Be quiet George and Martha," Hermes rolled his eyes.

"Cool, talking snakes," Nico mumbled.

"It's not that surprising. If horses could talk, why not snakes?" Annabeth shrugged.

**The jogger didn't seem to notice. **

**He checked his LCD display and cursed. "I've got to take this. Just a sec ..." Then into the phone: "Hello?"**

**He listened. The mini-snakes writhed up and down the antenna right next to his ear.**

"And you didn't notice it's the sign of Hermes?" Thalia asked curiously.

Percy shrugged.

**"Yeah," the jogger said. "Listen—I know, but... I don't care if he is chained to a rock with vultures pecking at his liver, if he doesn't have a tracking number, we can't locate his package... A gift to humankind, great... **

Nico looked amused. "Prometheus… gift to mankind… haha hilarious."

Annabeth looked impressed, "Good job, Nico." She said as Percy still scratched his head in confusion.

"You don't get it, do you?" She asked him. He shook his head dejectedly.

"Prometheus gave fire to man-kind. Zeus had him tied to a rock where vultures would come and eat his liver, only to have it reform overnight to have it happen again the next day." Everyone winced, save Zeus and a few other older gods.

**You know how many of those we deliver—Oh, never mind. Listen, just refer him to Eris in customer service. I gotta go."**

**He hung up. "Sorry. The overnight express business is just booming. Now, as I was saying—"**

**"You have snakes on your phone."**

"Way to state the obvious," Travis chuckled.

**"What? Oh, they don't bite. Say hello, George and Martha."**

**Hello, George and Martha, a raspy male voice said inside my head.**

Haha, I am so funny! George said.

No your not! Martha objected.

Don't be sarcastic, said a female voice.

Why not? George demanded. I do all the real work.

Are you kidding me, George? I do all the work around here!

"Why do you choose to start speaking now?" Hermes groaned. "Nevermind, just shush…"

Only if George would try to stop biting me! Martha said.

I'm not biting you, I just want to know what you taste like!

"This is kind of amusing," Nico laughed.

"I'm going to put you both on vibrate!" Hermes threatened. No one heard anymore voices.

**"Oh, let's not go into that again!" The jogger slipped his phone back into his pocket. "Now, where were we ... Ah, yes. Peace and quiet."**

**He crossed his ankles and stared up at the stars. "Been a long time since I've gotten to relax. Ever since the telegraph—rush, rush, rush. Do you have a favorite constellation, Percy?"**

**I was still kind of wondering about the little green snakes he'd shoved into his jogging shorts, but I said, "Uh, I like Hercules."**

"Everyone does," Annabeth said.

**"Why?"**

**"Well ... because he had rotten luck. Even worse than mine. It makes me feel better."**

"Interesting," Travis said.

"You sure he had worse luck than you?" Nico asked.

"After everything, I'm not so sure anymore," Percy whispered back, making sure his dad didn't hear.

**The jogger chuckled. "Not because he was strong and famous and all that?"**

**"No."**

**"You're an interesting young man. And so, what now?"**

**I knew immediately what he was asking. What did I intend to do about the Fleece?**

**Before I could answer, Martha the snake's muffled voice came from his pocket: I have Demeter on line two.**

**"Not now," the jogger said. "Tell her to leave a message."**

"Tell me to leave a message?" Demeter asked.

**She's not going to like that. The last time you put her off, all the flowers in the floral delivery division wilted.**

**"Just tell her I'm in a meeting!" **

Demeter narrowed her eyes. "Yeah right, you're in a meeting!"

"Heh…" Hermes said nervously. "Um…"

"Next time, you better pick up the phone! Anymore flowers that wilt because of you, and someone's going to get it," Demeter said darkly.

Hermes gulped. Never mess with Demeter when it revolves around flowers.

Beckendorf quickly read on.

**The jogger rolled his eyes. "Sorry again, Percy. You were saying ..."**

**"Um ... who are you, exactly?"**

**"Haven't you guessed by now, a smart boy like you?"**

Thalia and Nico began laughing, but at Percy's glare, it turned into coughs.

**Show him! Martha pleaded. I haven't been full-size for months.**

**Don't listen to her! George said. She just wants to show off!**

**The man took out his phone again. "Original form, please."**

**The phone glowed a brilliant blue. It stretched into a three-foot-long wooden staff with dove wings sprouting out the top. George and Martha, now full-sized green snakes, coiled together around the middle. **

"A Caduceus," Athena noted.

**It was a caduceus, the symbol of Cabin Eleven.**

**My throat tightened. I realized who the jogger reminded me of with his elfish features, the mischievous twinkle in his eyes...**

**"You're Luke's father," I said. "Hermes."**

Hermes sighed loudly. "Yup, Luke's horrible father, that's me,"

"Don't beat yourself up about it," Hera chided.

"Yeah, you have 2 very awesome children right here," Percy gestured to the Stoll brothers.

Hermes smiled gratefully at his sons.

**The god pursed his lips. He stuck his caduceus in the sand like an umbrella pole. "'Luke's father.' Normally, that's not the first way people introduce me. God of thieves, yes. God of messengers and travellers, if they wish to be kind."**

**God of thieves works, George said.**

"God of thieves," Travis and Connor smiled, than high-fived each other.

**Oh, don't mind George. Martha flicked her tongue at me. He's just bitter because Hermes likes me best.**

**He does not!**

**Does too!**

Does not, George whispered quietly.

**"Behave, you two," Hermes warned, "or I'll turn you back into a cell phone and set you on vibrate! Now, Percy, you still haven't answered my question. What do you intend to do about the quest?"**

**"I—I don't have permission to go."**

"The one time we want you to break the rules, you choose not to?" Thalia groaned.

**"No, indeed. Will that stop you?"**

**"I want to go. I have to save Grover."**

"And me, don't forget the dying tree," Thalia grumbled.

"Sorry," Percy said.

**Hermes smiled. "I knew a boy once ... oh, younger than you by far. A mere baby, really."**

**Here we go again, George said. Always talking about himself**

Zeus snorted. "He does talk about himself a lot, doesn't he…"

Yup! The two snakes said simultaneously.

**Quiet! Martha snapped. Do you want to get set on vibrate?**

**Hermes ignored them. "One night, when this boy's mother wasn't watching, he sneaked out of their cave and stole some cattle that belonged to Apollo."**

It was Apollo's turn to glare at Hermes.

**"Did he get blasted to tiny pieces?" I asked.**

**"Hmm ... no. Actually, everything turned out quite well. To make up for his theft, the boy gave Apollo an instrument he'd invented—a lyre. Apollo was so enchanted with the music that he forgot all about being angry."**

"Ha! Thanks for reminding me!" Apollo said. "Just watch your back!"

"Great…" Hermes muttered.

**"So what's the moral?"**

"Oh Percy," Hermes shook his head.

**"The moral?" Hermes asked. "Goodness, you act like it's a fable. It's a true story. Does truth have a moral?"**

**"Um ..."**

**"How about this: stealing is not always bad?"**

"Love it!" the brothers chorused.

"Of course you do…" Annabeth commented.

**"I don't think my mom would like that moral."**

Everyone rolled their eyes.

**Rats are delicious, suggested George.**

**What does that have to do with the story? Martha demanded.**

**Nothing, George said. But I'm hungry.**

"George kind of reminds me of Apollo…" Artemis mused.

**"I've got it," Hermes said. "Young people don't always do what they're told, but if they can pull it off and do something wonderful, sometimes they escape punishment. How's that?"**

"Long…" Nico mumbled.

**"You're saying I should go anyway," I said, "even without permission."**

"I tell you this awesome story with a great lesson, and you say it in a sentence," Hermes sighed.

"That's Percy for you," Thalia grinned.

"Summarizing hour long stories into less than a paragraph is what I do best," Percy grinned.

**Hermes's eyes twinkled. "Martha, may I have the first package, please?"**

**Martha opened her mouth ... and kept opening it until it was as wide as my arm. She belched out a stainless steel canister—an old-fashioned lunch box thermos with a black plastic top. The sides of the thermos were enameled with red and yellow Ancient Greek scenes—a hero killing a lion; a hero lifting up Cerberus, the three-headed dog.**

"Hercules," Annabeth said.

**"That's Hercules," I said. "But how—"**

**"Never question a gift," Hermes chided. "This is a collector's item from Hercules Busts Heads. The first season."**

"What! And you gave it away?" Apollo shouted.

Hermes frowned. "I guess I did… Aw man! I hope you put it to good use, Percy. I loved it!"

"Heh…" Percy stifled a laugh, looking at Annabeth and remembering what he did with it.

**"Hercules Busts Heads?"**

**"Great show." Hermes sighed. "Back before Hephaestus-TV was all reality programming. Of course, the thermos would be worth much more if I had the whole lunch box—"**

**Or if it hadn't been in Martha's mouth, George added.**

**I'll get you for that. Martha began chasing him around the caduceus.**

**"Wait a minute," I said. "This is a gift?"**

**"One of two," Hermes said. "Go on, pick it up."**

**I almost dropped it because it was freezing cold on one side and burning hot on the other. The weird thing was, when I turned the thermos, the side facing the ocean— north—was always the cold side...**

**"It's a compass!" I said.**

**Hermes looked surprised. "Very clever. I never thought of that. **

"Looks like Seaweed Brain figured it out fast!" Annabeth said.

"Yup, I can be smart when I'm in the mood,"

**But its intended use is a bit more dramatic. Uncap it, and you will release the winds from the four corners of the earth to speed you on your way. **

"That's cool!" Nico said.

**Not now! And please, when the time comes, only unscrew the lid a tiny bit. The winds are a bit like me—always restless. Should all four escape at once ... ah, but I'm sure you'll be careful. **

Percy smirked. "We better be ready for the wrath of Lord Hermes," Percy whispered to Annabeth.

"We? Nuh uh, it's all you," Annabeth said.

**And now my second gift. George?"**

**She's touching me, George complained as he and Martha slithered around the pole.**

**"She's always touching you," Hermes said. "You're intertwined. And if you don't stop that, you'll get knotted again!**

**The snakes stopped wrestling.**

**George unhinged his jaw and coughed up a little plastic bottle filled with chewable vitamins.**

**"You're kidding," I said. "Are those Minotaur-shaped?"**

**"Minotaur-shaped vitamins?" Connor asked. "How scary."**

**Hermes picked up the bottle and rattled it. "The lemon ones, yes. The grape ones are Furies, I think. Or are they hydras? At any rate, these are potent. Don't take one unless you really, really need it."**

**"How will I know if I really, really need it?"**

**"You'll know, believe me. Nine essential vitamins, minerals, amino acids ... oh, everything you need to feel your self again."**

Annabeth, Nico and Percy burst out in laughter, as everyone looked at them oddly.

"Thank for the multivitamins, Hermes!" Percy and Annabeth called out.

"It really helped me a lot, and made me feel like myself again." Percy continued.

"No problem, glad you put it to good use," Hermes said slowly, as if he was still confused.

**He tossed me the bottle.**

**"Um, thanks," I said. "But Lord Hermes, why are you helping me?"**

**He gave me a melancholy smile. "Perhaps because I hope that you can save many people on this quest, Percy. Not just your friend Grover."**

**I stared at him. "You don't mean ... Luke?"**

Everyone was silent.

Hermes didn't answer.

**"Look," I said. "Lord Hermes, I mean, thanks and everything, but you might as well take back your gifts. Luke can't be saved. Even if I could find him ... he told me he wanted to tear down Olympus stone by stone. He betrayed everybody he knew. He—he hates you especially."**

**Hermes gazed up at the stars. "My dear young cousin, if there's one thing I've learned over the eons, it's that you can't give up on your family, no matter how tempting they make it. **

"Hmm… That's some very good advice I'll store for the future so I don't have to think of it again," Hermes commented.

"Aww, see, now Hermes knows the meaning of family," Hera smiled proudly.

"And pushing people off cliffs is being a family," Hephaestus muttered.

"Oh no, not this again!" Artemis groaned.

"They argue about this a lot?" Nico asked.

"Every couple of weeks," Demeter nodded.

"LET IT GO HEPHAESTUS! IT WAS EONS AGO!" Hera huffed dramatically.

"NO!" Hephaestus grumbled, tinkering with some metals.

"STOP BEING A BABY!"

"Shut up. Shut up. SHUT UP!" Zeus finally snapped.

Hera and Hephaestus turned their glares to Zeus, who just ignored them. "Start reading,"

"They're all like toddlers in kindergarten," Percy grinned amusedly.

**It doesn't matter if they hate you, or embarrass you, or simply don't appreciate your genius for inventing the Internet—"**

**"You invented the Internet?"**

"I just love the internet!" Apollo piped in.

**It was my idea, Martha said.**

**"No it wasn't" Hermes said.**

**Rats are delicious, George said.**

**"It was my idea!" Hermes said. "I mean the Internet, not the rats. But that's not the point. Percy, do you understand what I'm saying about family?"**

**"I—I'm not sure."**

**"You will some day." Hermes got up and brushed the sand off his legs. **

Beckendorf stopped reading and everyone looked expectedly at Percy.

"What's everyone looking at?"

"Do ya know what he's saying 'bout family now?" Travis asked curiously.

"Yeah…" Percy finally spoke.

"Good!" Hermes beamed.

**"In the meantime, I must be going."**

**You have sixty calls to return, Martha said.**

**And one thousand-thirty-eight e-mails, George added. Not counting the offers for online discount ambrosia.**

Hermes groaned. "I can never get a break, even in the future…"

"Probably another reason I didn't want to be a god," Percy mumbled.

**"And you, Percy," Hermes said, "have a shorter deadline than you realize to complete your quest. Your friends should be coming right about ... now."**

**I heard Annabeth's voice calling my name from the sand dunes. Tyson, too, was shouting from a little bit farther away.**

**"I hope I packed well for you," Hermes said. "I do have some experience with travel."**

"Loads of experience," Hermes added.

**He snapped his fingers and three yellow duffel bags appeared at my feet. "Waterproof, of course. If you ask nicely, your father should be able to help you reach the ship."**

**"Ship?"**

Annabeth and Percy winced.

**Hermes pointed. Sure enough, a big cruise ship was cutting across Long Island Sound, its white-and-gold lights glowing against the dark water.**

**"Wait," I said. "I don't understand any of this. I haven't even agreed to go!"**

**"I'd make up your mind in the next five minutes, if I were you," Hermes advised. "That's when the harpies will come to eat you. Now, good night, cousin, and dare I say it? May the gods go with you."**

**He opened his hand and the caduceus flew into it.**

**Good luck, Martha told me.**

**Bring me back a rat, George said.**

Did you ever bring me a rat? George asked.

"Uh… No," Percy said.

Darn kids, never bringing me a rat…

**The caduceus changed into a cell phone and Hermes slipped it into his pocket.**

**He jogged off down the beach. Twenty paces away, he shimmered and vanished, leaving me alone with a thermos, a bottle of chewable vitamins, and five minutes to make an impossible decision.,**

**"A thermos, a bottle of chewable vitamins, and five minutes to make an impossible decision?" Thalia repeated. "You make it sound like you were deciding the fate of the world."**

"Been there, done that," Percy added.

"You said yourself that you needed to save Grover, so what was so hard about the decision?" Nico said.

"Yeah, yeah, stop lecturing me already," Percy whined.

"Okay, time to read the last chapter of the night," Beckendorf said sadly.


	9. Chapter 9

"My turn!" Apollo said.

**"We Board the Princess Andromeda,"**

"Sounds familiar," Travis said.

Connor looked confused. "Is it the –"

"Yup," A few cringed.

"You went there be –"

"Yeah," Annabeth looked towards Percy.

"Is that where Beck –"

"Yes," Beckendorf interrupted.

The Olympians didn't fail to notice the tension in the room.

"Sheesh, I want to know the questions too!" Apollo frowned.

"You'll have to wait 'till later," Nico announced.

**I was staring at the waves when Annabeth and Tyson found me.**

**"What's going on?" Annabeth asked. "I heard you calling for help!"**

**"Me, too!" Tyson said. "Heard you yell, 'Bad things are attacking!'"**

"So that's what Hermes did you get you guys to come…" Thalia said.

"Yeah…" Annabeth nodded.

"I didn't call you guys," I said. "I'm fine."

**"But then who ..." Annabeth noticed the three yellow duffel bags, then the thermos and the bottle of vitamins I was holding. "What—"**

**"Just listen," I said. "We don't have much time."**

**I told them about my conversation with Hermes. By the time I was finished, I could hear screeching in the distance—patrol harpies picking up our scent.**

"The harpies are so horrible!" Connor commented.

"And how do you know this?" Athena asked.

"Oh don't act surprised," Travis told everyone.

"But still, there are rules for a reason," Annabeth chided.

"Says the girl escaping camp!" Connor retorted.

"Besides, rules are meant to be broken," Hermes smirked.

Annabeth huffed and glared at them both.

**"Percy," Annabeth said, "we have to do the quest."**

"Well, you don't have to…" Connor thought about it.

"Yeah, you can just leave me and Grover to die and don't forget that the camp will be destroyed," Thalia glared at Connor.

"But other than that, it'll all be fine," Nico said sarcastically.

**"We'll get expelled, you know. Trust me, I'm an expert at getting expelled."**

"Yeah you are," Everyone chorused.

"It's not like I try to get expelled," Percy defended himself.

"I guess, but you could at least try not to blow up every school you go to," Beckendorf grinned.

"But I managed to stay in Goode for more than a year!"

**"So? If we fail, there won't be any camp to come back to."**

**"Yeah, but you promised Chiron—"**

"And I thought you would be the one to try to convince Annabeth to leave, not the other way around," Nico joked.

**"I promised I'd keep you from danger. I can only do that by coming with you! Tyson can stay behind and tell them—"**

**"I want to go," Tyson said.**

**"No!" Annabeth's voice sounded close to panic. "I mean ... Percy, come on. You know that's impossible."**

**I wondered again why she had such a grudge against Cyclopes. There was something she wasn't telling me.**

"Duh, it's kind of obvious," Thalia said.

"Okay, this is my head, so I can think whatever I want, Pinecone face," Percy smiled smugly.

"Sheesh, I wish there was a law that states that you can't think stupid things,"

"Ah, but there isn't,"

**She and Tyson both looked at me, waiting for an answer. Meanwhile, the cruise ship was getting farther and farther away.**

"You guys better make a decision now or else it'll be all up to Clarisse," Athena spoke up.

"That'd be horrible!" Connor shivered.

"Like Ares being the king of gods." Nico blurted out. "Woops, that wasn't supposed to come out…"

Ares stood up angrily and walked up to Nico, who was scampering away. "Stupid ADHD,"

"Lord Ares, it'd probably be a bad idea to hurt Nico, and if you do, you'll have to deal with me!" Percy said angrily, while protecting his boyfriend.

"I don't care!" Ares was just about to punch Nico hard, but Hades stopped him just in time.

"Calm. Down. Don't you dare touch him!" Hades tossed him across the room.

"Don't tell me what to do, Death Breath," Ares slowly stood up, wiping the ichor off the corner of his mouth.

"Well I wouldn't have to, if you weren't so dumb," Hades growled.

Ares narrowed his eyes, yelled a battle cry and charged with his spear. Hades rolled his eyes and got ready. Before any of them could fight, Zeus stood up and struck his lightning bolt into the ground, blasting them both towards the wall.

Zeus smiled smugly and blew on his fingers for emphasis. "It's good being king of the gods,"

Hades stood up glaring. "You didn't need to hit me too. It was all his fault,"

Ares sat up dazedly.

"He'll be better soon, read on!" Apollo called nonchalantly, like this happened daily.

"That… was awesome!" Nico said in awe.

**The thing was, part of me didn't want Tyson along. I'd spent the last three days in close quarters with the guy, getting razzed by the other campers and embarrassed a million times a day, constantly reminded that I was related to him. I needed some space.**

Percy felt really guilty but he tried not to show it because Thalia was glaring at him.

**Plus, I didn't know how much help he'd be, or how I'd keep him safe. Sure, he was strong, but Tyson was a little kid in Cyclops terms, maybe seven or eight years old, mentally. I could see him freaking out and starting to cry while we were trying to sneak past a monster or something. He'd get us all killed.**

"Have some faith in your brother," Hera rolled her eyes.

"Why don't you keep your mouth shut?" Annabeth said.

"OR, I could send a herd of cows after you," Hera smiled cheekily.

"That's nothing new," Annabeth responded in a bored voice, leaving Hera speechless.

**On the other hand, the sound of the harpies was getting closer...**

**"We can't leave him," I decided. "Tantalus will punish him for us being gone."**

**"Percy," Annabeth said, trying to keep her cool, "we're going to Polyphemus's island! Polyphemus is an S-i-k ... a C-y-k . .." **

A few people snickered as Annabeth fumed. "It's not funny!"

"But the brainac can't spell," Connor tried to silence his chuckle.

"You can't either!" Annabeth snapped irritatedly. "Besides, it's not my fault I have dyslexia."

**She stamped her foot in frustration. As smart as she was, Annabeth was dyslexic, too. We could've been there all night while she tried to spell Cyclops. **

**Annabeth glared at Percy, who tried to avoid her gaze.**

**"You know what I mean!"**

"Do we? Do we really?" Nico asked.

"YES!" Annabeth screamed.

**"Tyson can go," I insisted, "if he wants to."**

**Tyson clapped his hands. "Want to!"**

**Annabeth gave me the evil eye, but I guess she could tell I wasn't going to change my mind. Or maybe she just knew we didn't have time to argue.**

"It was the latter," Annabeth quickly said.

"It was the what?" Connor looked confused.

Athena sighed. "It means the second option of the two,"

"It sounds like ladder!" Apollo interrupted.

Athena massaged her temples furiously and Annabeth looked like she wanted to bang her head into a wall.

**"All right," she said. "How do we get to that ship?"**

**"Hermes said my father would help."**

**"Well then, Seaweed Brain? What are you waiting for?"**

**I'd always had a hard time calling on my father, or praying, or whatever you want to call it, but I stepped into the waves.**

**"Urn, Dad?" I called. "How's it going?"**

Everyone burst into laughter.

"You're so casual for someone who's being hunted down by harpies," Beckendorf commented.

"Well, that's me. Mr. Casual," Percy said.

"Atleast we're striking up a conversation," Poseidon said cheerily.

**"Percy!" Annabeth whispered. "We're in a hurry!"**

**"We need your help," I called a little louder. "We need to get to that ship, like, before we get eaten and stuff, so ..."**

"What a great way to explain things," Nico said sarcastically.

**At first, nothing happened. Waves crashed against the shore like normal. The harpies sounded like they were right behind the sand dunes. Then, about a hundred yards out to sea, three white lines appeared on the surface. They moved fast toward the shore, like claws ripping through the ocean.**

**As they neared the beach, the surf burst apart and the heads of three white stallions reared out of the waves.**

**Tyson caught his breath. "Fish ponies!"**

"Fish ponies?" Connor looked confused.

**"He means hippocampi," Annabeth explained.**

"Oh, okay, that makes sense… I think,"

**He was right. As the creatures pulled themselves onto the sand, I saw that they were only horses in the front; their back halves were silvery fish bodies, with glistening scales and rainbow tail fins.**

"Interesting…" Athena murmured.

**"Hippocampi!" Annabeth said. "They're beautiful."**

**The nearest one whinnied in appreciation and nuzzled Annabeth.**

**"We'll admire them later," I said. "Come on!"**

**"There!" a voice screeched behind us. "Bad children out of cabins! Snack time for lucky harpies!"**

"Bad harpies bad!" Apollo pretended to be scolding a little child. "Shouldn't eat savior of Olympus!"

"Besides, I don't think Percy, Tyson and Annabeth taste that good," Nico said.

"Unless you have maple syrup. It tastes good with everything!" Travis exclaimed.

Connor gasped. "Wait, if maple syrup is made out of water, sap, and sugar, and Percy is like 70% water or something, does that mean Percy would taste like maple syrup?"

Percy looked offended and everyone just looked at Connor weirdly.

"No, he would just taste like water," Athena couldn't believe she was explaining this.

"I'm pretty sure Percy doesn't taste like maple syrup… do you?" Thalia asked.

"Nope, and i'm glad too, or else Travis would try biting me,"

"Weird how we got from the topic of harpies to maple syrup to Travis biting people…" Annabeth laughed.

The Olympians couldn't help but smile at this weird conversation.

**Five of them were fluttering over the top of the dunes—plump little hags with pinched faces and talons and feathery wings too small for their bodies. They reminded me of miniature cafeteria ladies who'd been crossbred with dodo birds. They weren't very fast, thank the gods, but they were vicious if they caught you.**

**"Tyson!" I said. "Grab a duffel bag!"**

**He was still staring at the hippocampi with his mouth hanging open, "Tyson!"**

**"Uh?"**

"Yup, their always speechless when they look at those beauties," Poseidon beamed.

"Wow, that was awkward in so many ways," Athena scowled.

**"Come on!"**

**With Annabeth's help I got him moving. We gathered the bags and mounted our steeds. Poseidon must've known Tyson was one of the passengers, because one hippocampus was much larger than the other two—just right for carrying a Cyclops.**

"Rainbow!" Percy yelled.

"What? Is Iris here?" Hades asked curiously.

"No, that's the name of the hippocampi," Annabeth explained.

"Oh, good. Rainbows are just too colourful for my liking," Hades muttered.

**"Giddyup!" I said. My hippocampus turned and plunged into the waves. Annabeth's and Tyson's followed right behind.**

**The harpies cursed at us, wailing for their snacks to come back,**

"I don't think yelling at your snack is going to make it come back," Artemis looked amused.

"And yet, they do it anyways," Demeter chuckled.

"Maybe, their constant begging will convince Percy to come back and allow them to munch him up, because he hates disappointing people." Thalia suggested.

"Than, they'll pour some maple syrup on him, so he tastes better," Travis added. "Yum,"

"I don't appreciate you guys talking about harpies eating me with syrup," Percy mumbled. "Or you know, me dying at all,"

"Isn't it better than dying at the hands of… a titan?" Apollo asked.

"No," Percy disagreed. "I at least want to die with some dignity! Being eaten to death by syrup loving harpies doesn't really suit my style,"

"What style?" Thalia asked innocently.

"The better question is 'what dignity'?" Nico snickered.

"Evil cousins," Percy frowned.

**but the hippocampi raced over the water at the speed of Jet Skis. The harpies fell behind, and soon the shore of Camp Half-Blood was nothing but a dark smudge. I wondered if I'd ever see the place again. **

"And you don't," Hermes said ominously.

"WHAT?" Poseidon screamed.

"He was kidding, dad," Percy quickly said.

"You almost gave me a heart-attack," Poseidon glared at Hermes, than whipped some water at him.

**But right then I had other problems.**

**The cruise ship was now looming in front of us—our ride toward Florida and the Sea of Monsters.**

Riding the hippocampus was even easier than riding a pegasus.

"Probably because you're in natural territory, instead of Zeus' domain," Athena stated.

"Good to know…" Percy trailed off, trying not to yawn.

**We zipped along with the wind in our faces, speeding through the waves so smooth and steady I hardly needed to hold on at all.**

**As we got closer to the cruise ship, I realized just how huge it was. I felt as though I were looking up at a building in Manhattan. The white hull was at least ten stories tall, topped with another dozen levels of decks with brightly lit balconies and portholes. The ship's name was painted just above the bow line in black letters, lit with a spotlight. It took me a few seconds to decipher it: PRINCESS ANDROMEDA**

Percy, Annabeth and Beckendorf saddened incredibly, the gods noticed.

"What's up with you guys?" Poseidon asked.

"Is it because Olympus is too bright?" Hades asked. "I feel it wiping away my darkness and sadness. Make it stop!"

"Uh…" Everyone was speechless.

"Nah, it's nothing," Beckendorf said.

"It's so obvious that there is something going on," Artemis rolled her eyes.

"Well, we're not telling you!" Percy yelled.

"Sheesh, no need to get sassy on us," Apollo snapped his fingers moodily.

**Attached to the bow was a huge masthead—a three-story-tall woman wearing a white Greek chiton, sculpted to look as if she were chained to the front of the ship. She was young and beautiful, with flowing black hair, but her expression was one of absolute terror. Why anybody would want a screaming princess on the front of their vacation ship, I had no idea.**

**I remembered the myth about Andromeda and how she had been chained to a rock by her own parents as a sacrifice to a sea monster. Maybe she'd gotten too many F's on her report card or something. **

"Yes, that's the reason. Chain your daughter to a rock because she got an F on her report card," Hera responded sarcastically.

"Sounds like something you would actually do," Annabeth muttered quietly, but Thalia heard and gave her a high-five.

**Anyway, my name sake, Perseus, had saved her just in time and turned the sea monster to stone using the head of Medusa.**

**That Perseus always won. That's why my mom had named me after him, even though he was a son of Zeus and I was a son of Poseidon. **

"But my Perseus is better than yours!" Poseidon said to Zeus.

Zeus scoffed. "Puh-lease, this weakling doesn't even compare to my Perseus,"

Yeah, this weakling saved Western Civilization and your freaking ass, Percy thought.

"My son will be greater than yours will ever be!" Poseidon shouted.

"Mostly because Zeus' son is already dead," Nico murmured.

"NO WAY!" Zeus boomed.

"LET'S BEGIN READING!" Athena yelled.

"Only she and her children would dare suggest that," Hermes rolled his eyes.

"Hey Hermes, I think reading is pretty cool," Percy said.

"Are… you serious?" Everyone looked horrified.

"Nah, just kidding," Percy smiled.

Hermes let out a deep breath. "You almost gave me a heart attack! I knew you were too cool for those tree-wasting things."

"Those tree-wasting things are called books," Athena snapped.

**The original Perseus was one of the only heroes in the Greek myths who got a happy ending. The others died—betrayed, mauled, mutilated, poisoned, or cursed by the gods.**

"How lovely," Thalia shuddered.

"Yup, Heroes are sure amusing," Hera muttered.

Aphrodite sighed longingly. "Such tragic tales… It's like watching your own TV show!"

"Great to know how we're appreciated," Percy said.

**My mom hoped I would inherit Perseus's luck. Judging by how my life was going so far, I wasn't real optimistic.**

"Well, so far, so good," Nico said hopefully.

**"How do we get aboard?" Annabeth shouted over the noise of the waves, but the hippocampi seemed to know what we needed. They skimmed along the starboard side of the ship, riding easily through its huge wake, and pulled up next to a service ladder riveted to the side of the hull.**

**"You first," I told Annabeth.**

**She slung her duffel bag over her shoulder and grabbed the bottom rung. Once she'd hoisted herself onto the ladder, her hippocampus whinnied a farewell and dove under water. Annabeth began to climb. I let her get a few rungs up, then followed her.**

**Finally it was just Tyson in the water. His hippocampus was treating him to 360° aerials and backward ollies, and Tyson was laughing so hysterically, the sound echoed up the side of the ship.**

"That sounds so fun!" Apollo sighed.

"Though we have even more fun up here on Olympus!" Hermes smiled.

"It would be really awesome, if we weren't on a quest," Percy said.

**"Tyson, shhh!" I said. "Come on, big guy!"**

**"Can't we take Rainbow?" he asked, his smile fading.**

**I stared at him. "Rainbow?"**

**The hippocampus whinnied as if he liked his new name.**

**"Um, we have to go," I said. "Rainbow ... well, he can't climb ladders."**

"Aww, too bad he can't climb ladders," Aphrodite frowned.

"Maybe they should make ladders just for hippocampus?" Travis suggested playfully.

"That would be… useful," Percy said.

**Tyson sniffled. He buried his face in the hippocampus's mane. "I will miss you, Rainbow!"**

**The hippocampus made a neighing sound I could've sworn was crying.**

"That's so sad! Such a tragedy," Aphrodite sniffed.

"… It's a horse… fish… thing…" Nico trailed off.

"A horse tragedy!" Aphrodite exclaimed.

"Yeah, animals have feelings too," Silena smiled sadly.

**"Maybe we'll see him again sometime," I suggested.**

**"Oh, please!" Tyson said, perking up immediately. "Tomorrow!"**

**I didn't make any promises, but I finally convinced Tyson to say his farewells and grab hold of the ladder. With a final sad whinny, Rainbow the hippocampus did a back-flip and dove into the sea.**

**The ladder led to a maintenance deck stacked with yellow lifeboats. There was a set of locked double doors, which Annabeth managed to pry open with her knife and a fair amount of cursing in Ancient Greek.**

"Shame on you, Annie!" Connor teased.

**I figured we'd have to sneak around, being stowaways and all, but after checking a few corridors and peering over a balcony into a huge central promenade lined with closed shops, I began to realize there was nobody to hide from. **

"Aww, that's no fun!" Apollo said.

**I mean, sure it was the middle of the night, but we walked half the length of the boat and met no one. We passed forty or fifty cabin doors and heard no sound behind any of them.**

"This doesn't sound too good…" Hermes said. "I mean, a cruise ship with no passengers?"

"Maybe they we're out of business?" Poseidon suggested weakly, trying to deny the truth.

**"It's a ghost ship," I murmured.**

**"No," Tyson said, fiddling with the strap of his duffel bag. "Bad smell."**

"If I were you, I would've jumped off the ship by now," Connor commented.

"Yup, good plan. Just go ahead and jump 100 feet down into the middle of the ocean," Annabeth stated.

"Nice knowing ya, Connor. You'd go splat like an egg," Nico smirked.

"Okay, nevermind than," Connor looked kind of sick.

**Annabeth frowned. "I don't smell anything."**

**"Cyclopes are like satyrs," I said. **

"I don't know if any satyr would appreciate you comparing them to a Cyclopes," Thalia said.

**"They can smell monsters. Isn't that right, Tyson?" **

**He nodded nervously. Now that we were away from Camp Half-Blood, the Mist had distorted his face again. Unless I concentrated very hard, it seemed that he had two eyes instead of one.**

"Atleast it makes him look more normal," Travis offered.

"There's nothing wrong with having one eye," Poseidon frowned.

Nico smirked. "And besides, who wants to be normal,"

"I don't even remember being normal," Connor pondered.

"That's because you've never been and never will be," Annabeth drawled.

**"Okay," Annabeth said. "So what exactly do you smell?"**

**"Something bad," Tyson answered.**

"Maybe it's just the smell of the sea spawn," Athena smirked.

Percy crossed his arms and glared.

**"Great," Annabeth grumbled. "That clears it up."**

**We came outside on the swimming pool level. There were rows of empty deck chairs and a bar closed off with a chain curtain. The water in the pool glowed eerily, sloshing back and forth from the motion of the ship.**

**Above us fore and aft were more levels—a climbing wall, a putt-putt golf course, a revolving restaurant, but no sign of life.**

"Now this is just practically screaming 'DANGER! DANGER! GET THE HADES AWAY!'" Thalia bit her lip.

"Stop using my name," Hades said darkly.

"It was our only ride, we couldn't have just left," Percy completely ignored Hades.

**And yet ... I sensed something familiar. Something dangerous. I had the feeling that if I weren't so tired and burned out on adrenaline from our long night, I might be able to put a name to what was wrong.**

**"We need a hiding place," I said. "Somewhere safe to sleep."**

**"Sleep," Annabeth agreed wearily.**

**We explored a few more corridors until we found an empty suite on the ninth level. The door was open, which struck me as weird. **

"When there's an opened door on an empty ship, NEVER go in," Hermes waited in anticipation.

"Wish we had that advice before," Annabeth muttered.

"Hermes," Percy said. "You're the one that pointed us to this ship in the first place,"

That shut Hermes up.

**There was a basket of chocolate goodies on the table, an iced-down bottle of sparkling cider on the nightstand, and a mint on the pillow with a hand written note that said: Enjoy your cruise!**

"I doubt you'll enjoy your cruise," Nico commented.

**We opened our duffel bags for the first time and found that Hermes really had thought of everything—extra clothes, toiletries, camp rations, a Ziploc bag full of cash, a leather pouch full of golden drachmas. He'd even managed to pack Tyson's oilcloth with his tools and metal bits, and Annabeth's cap of invisibility, which made them both feel a lot better.**

**"I'll be next door," Annabeth said. "You guys don't drink or eat anything."**

"Good advice," Demeter nodded in approval, than glared at Hades. "You wouldn't want anyone to be trapped in hell,"

Hades smirked. "Guilty,"

**"You think this place is enchanted?"**

**She frowned. "I don't know. Something isn't right. Just ... be careful."**

"No really?" Connor stretched out the words.

"Oh shut it, I'm just trying to put everything into simple words for Percy and Tyson," Annabeth rolled her eyes. "No offense, Percy."

"Still offended," Percy mumbled under his breath.

"And besides," Annabeth continued. "If it was my brain, you wouldn't be able to follow my train of thoughts,"

Connor put his hand up in mock surrender, but was still smiling.

**We locked our doors.**

**Tyson crashed on the couch. He tinkered for a few minutes on his metalworking project**

"I like this Tyson," Hephaestus smiled.

"Yeah, he's really awesome," Beckendorf grinned.

"Not surprising," Nico pretended to yawn.

**—which he still wouldn't show me—but soon enough he was yawning. He wrapped up his oilcloth and passed out.**

**I lay on the bed and stared out the porthole. I thought I heard voices out in the hallway, like whispering. **

"The cruise ship is haunted by lonely ghosts that drowned long ago, not being able to move on because something personal is holding them back," Apollo guessed as Hades just had an Are-You-Serious face on.

"Wow, that's such a good guess!" Percy lied.

Apollo beamed. "Thanks,"

**I knew that couldn't be. We'd walked all over the ship and had seen nobody. But the voices kept me awake. They reminded me of my trip to the Underworld—the way the spirits of the dead sounded as they drifted past.**

"Ah, my dead mortals," Hades muttered. "Causing so much traffic,"

**Finally my weariness got the best of me. I fell asleep ... and had my worst dream yet.**

"Yay, how wonderful." Poseidon rubbed his temples.

"Don't worry, it's just a dream," Percy soothed.

Beckendorf added "A prophetic dream, but a dream nonetheless,"

"Charlie, shh!" Silena put a finger to her mouth.

**I was standing in a cavern at the edge of an enormous pit. I knew the place too well. The entrance to Tartarus. And I recognized the cold laugh that echoed from the darkness below.**

**If it isn't the young hero. The voice was like a knife blade scraping across stone. On his way to another great victory.**

Most of the people gritted their teeth as Percy unconsciously flinched.

**I wanted to shout at Kronos to leave me alone. I wanted to draw Riptide and strike him down. But I couldn't move. And even if I could, how could I kill some thing that had already been destroyed—chopped to pieces and cast into eternal darkness?**

"Don't think pessimistic, you'll just lose that way," Athena said seriously.

"Haha, asking Percy to not be pessimistic is like asking a cow to poop out jelly beans," Nico said, causing everyone to crack a smile. "It just cannot be done,"

"Who knows, one day we might just have jelly bean pooping cows in New York City," Apollo grinned as the aspect.

"Now that's what I call being optimistic," Demeter whistled.

**Don't let me stop you, the titan said. Perhaps this time, when you fail, you'll wonder if it's worthwhile slaving for the gods. **

Zeus narrowed his eyes. "Of course it's worthwhile!"

"Better than the titans," Percy shrugged.

Athena softened. "Is it that hard of a decision?"

Nico shifted uncomfortably. "Well, you all certainly don't earn the best parent award, but…"

"You can't give up on family," Annabeth turned to Hermes.

Hermes nodded with a more determined look. "Yeah…"

How exactly has your father shown his appreciation lately?

Poseidon huffed angrily.

**His laughter filled the cavern, and suddenly the scene changed.**

**It was a different cave—Grover's bedroom prison in the Cyclops's lair.**

**Grover was sitting at the loom in his soiled wedding dress, madly unraveling the threads of the unfinished bridal train.**

**"Honeypie!" the monster shouted from behind the boulder.**

Juniper's not going to like that, Thalia thought amusedly.

**Grover yelped and began weaving the threads back together.**

"Well, that's a waste of time…" Nico murmured quietly.

**The room shook as the boulder was pushed aside. Looming in the doorway was a Cyclops so huge he made Tyson look vertically challenged. He had jagged yellow teeth and gnarled hands as big as my whole body. He wore a faded purple T-shirt that said WORLD SHEEP EXPO 2001. He must've been at least fifteen feet tall, but the most startling thing was his enormous milky eye, scarred and webbed with cataracts. If he wasn't completely blind, he had to be pretty darn close.**

"I wonder why…" Percy looking at Annabeth, causing her to laugh.

**"What are you doing?" the monster demanded.**

**"Nothing!" Grover said in his falsetto voice. "Just weaving my bridal train, as you can see."**

**The Cyclops stuck one hand into the room and groped around until he found the loom. He pawed at the cloth. "It hasn't gotten any longer!"**

"It hasn't?" Connor feigned surprise. "I wonder why…"

**"Oh, um, yes it has, dearest. See? I've added at least an inch."**

**"Too many delays!" the monster bellowed. Then he sniffed the air. "You smell good! Like goats!"**

"Hm…" Nico pretended to think. "It may be because he's half goat…?"

"Haha, great deduction," Percy said sarcastically.

**"Oh." Grover forced a weak giggle. "Do you like it? It's Eau de Chevre. I wore it just for you."**

**"Mmmm!" The Cyclops bared his pointed teeth. "Good enough to eat!"**

"Ey, that Cyclopes has no right to eat my goat friend!" Thalia protested stubbornly.

"I don't think he really cares. He lives in a cave," Connor commented.

**"Oh, you're such a flirt!"**

"Wow, that's so weird coming from Grover," Silena giggled.

**"No more delays!"**

**"But dear, I'm not done!"**

**"Tomorrow!"**

**"No, no. Ten more days."**

**"Five!"**

**"Oh, well, seven then. If you insist."**

**"Seven! That is less than five, right?"**

Athena's eye was twitching. "What an idiot."

"Well, not everyone is as smart as you," Poseidon rolled his eyes.

"Even I knew that five is less than seven when I was 2 years old," Annabeth said.

"Because you were born with a big brain," Percy stated.

Annabeth narrowed her eyes. "Was that an insult?"

"No, it was a fact," Percy smirked.

Apollo quickly read on.

**"Certainly. Oh yes."**

**The monster grumbled, still not happy with his deal, but he left Grover to his weaving and rolled the boulder back into place.**

**Grover closed his eyes and took a shaky breath, trying to calm his nerves.**

**"Hurry, Percy," he muttered. "Please, please, please!"**

**I woke to a ship's whistle and a voice on the intercom— some guy with an Australian accent who sounded way too happy.**

**"Good morning, passengers! We'll be at sea all day today. Excellent weather for the poolside mambo party! Don't forget million-dollar bingo in the Kraken Lounge at one o'clock, and for our special guests, disemboweling practice on the Promenade!"**

"Wait, what did he say?" Poseidon sat up straighter.

**I sat up in bed. "What did he say?"**

**Tyson groaned, still half asleep. He was lying facedown on the couch, his feet so far over the edge they were in the bathroom. "The happy man said ... bowling practice?"**

**I hoped he was right, but then there was an urgent knock on the suite's interior door. Annabeth stuck her head in—her blond hair in a rat's nest.**

"Uh huh, great. Just how I want to be described," Annabeth said.

"Disemboweling practice?"

Poseidon tugged his hair and furrowed his eyebrows.

**Once we were all dressed, we ventured out into the ship and were surprised to see other people. A dozen senior citizens were heading to breakfast. A dad was taking his kids to the pool for a morning swim. Crew members in crisp white uniforms strolled the deck, tipping their hats to the passengers.**

**Nobody asked who we were. Nobody paid us much attention. But there was something wrong.**

**As the family of swimmers passed us, the dad told his kids: "We are on a cruise. We are having fun."**

**"Yes," his three kids said in unison, their expressions blank. "We are having a blast. We will swim in the pool."**

"They're being mind-controlled!" Apollo exclaimed. "That is so cool!"

"Cool? That's horrible!" Athena shrieked.

"Oh stop being a party pooper," Poseidon rolled his eyes.

"Me? Maybe you should stop worrying about your sea spawn so much!" Athena said. "He's obviously here and okay,"

Poseidon scowled.

**They wandered off.**

**"Good morning," a crew member told us, his eyes glazed. "We are all enjoying ourselves aboard the Princess Andromeda. Have a nice day." He drifted away.**

**"Percy, this is weird," Annabeth whispered. "They're all in some kind of trance."**

**Then we passed a cafeteria and saw our first monster. It was a hellhound**

"At first I wondered why you guys dislike being related to really hot and powerful beings like us," Apollo said. "Now I see why,"

"And I thought Percy had a big head," Thalia rolled her eyes.

"Monsters are always trying to attack you every 5 minutes, and all they ever want to do is try to rip off your head, shower you with salt, and just plain waste your time!" Apollo droned on. "I mean they are absolutely no fun whatsoever, and –"

"WE GET IT!" Everyone shouted.

"How rude," Apollo sniffed indignantly.

**—a black mastiff with its front paws up on the buffet line and its muzzle buried in the scrambled eggs. It must've been young, because it was small compared to most—no bigger than a grizzly bear. Still, my blood turned cold. I'd almost gotten killed by one of those before.**

"Oh I remember…" Percy murmured to himself. "It was interesting…"

Poseidon heard this and said "Interesting? You almost got killed!"

"eh…" Percy shrugged.

**The weird thing was: a middle-aged couple was standing in the buffet line right behind the devil dog, patiently waiting their turn for the eggs. They didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary.**

**"Not hungry anymore," Tyson murmured.**

**Before Annabeth or I could reply, a reptilian voice came from down the corridor, "Ssssix more joined yesssterday."**

**Annabeth gestured frantically toward the nearest hiding place—the women's room—and all three of us ducked inside. **

"Atleast when someone asks, you can say that you've been in the women's washroom," Connor chuckled, making Percy blush red.

Artemis looked at Connor in disgust. "Men are such morons,"

**I was so freaked out it didn't even occur to me to be embarrassed. Something—or more like two somethings—slithered past the bathroom door, making sounds like sandpaper against the carpet.**

**"Yesss," a second reptilian voice said. "He drawssss them. Ssssoon we will be sssstrong."**

**The things slithered into the cafeteria with a cold hissing that might have been snake laughter.**

"Can dracanae even laugh?" Travis asked.

**Annabeth looked at me. "We have to get out of here."**

**"You think I want to be in the girls' restroom?"**

"Yes!" The stoll brothers joked, resulting in hard slaps from all the women in the room.

Percy rolled his eyes.

**"I mean the ship, Percy! We have to get off the ship."**

"I knew that," Percy told Annabeth.

"No you didn't!"

"Yes I… Oh whatever," Percy gave up.

**"Smells bad," Tyson agreed. "And dogs eat all the eggs.**

"Aw, that sucks…" Hermes said.

**Annabeth is right. **

"Isn't she always…" Thalia sighed as Annabeth looked smugly at them all.

**We must leave the restroom and ship."**

**I shuddered. If Annabeth and Tyson were actually agreeing about something, I figured I'd better listen.**

"Even if Tyson didn't agree with me, you still should have listened," Annabeth grinned.

**Then I heard another voice outside—one that chilled me worse than any monster's.**

**"—only a matter of time. Don't push me, Agrius!"**

**It was Luke, beyond a doubt. I could never forget his voice.**

Percy shifted uncomfortably as Hermes paid more attention.

**"I'm not pushing you!" another guy growled. His voice was deeper and even angrier than Luke's. "I'm just saying, if this gamble doesn't pay off—"**

**"It'll pay off," Luke snapped. "They'll take the bait. Now, come, we've got to get to the admiralty suite and check on the casket."**

**Their voices receded down the corridor.**

**Tyson whimpered. "Leave now?"**

**Annabeth and I exchanged looks and came to a silent agreement.**

**"We can't," I told Tyson.**

**"We have to find out what Luke is up to," Annabeth agreed. "And if possible, we're going to beat him up, bind him in chains, and drag him to Mount Olympus."**

"Fat chance that'll happen," Hera scoffed.

"Great to know…" Poseidon muttered.

"That's the end of the chapter," Apollo grinned.

"We're stopping for the night, right?" Beckendorf asked.

"Yup," Hestia responded.

"This means we only have a couple of hours to spend with everyone," Silena sniffed sadly.

"It's okay, Silena," Beckendorf walked over to comfort his girlfriend. "We'll just have to have a really great time while we can."


	10. Chapter 10 Silena and Beckendorf leave

"We ordered Pepperoni, right?"

"Yeah,"

"Pizza for Ben Dover!" A voice called. "Pizza for Ben Dover!"

"Over here!" Nico waved.

The pizza guy came towards them. "That would be 17.03 please,"

Percy handed over the money and Nico took the pizza.

After the guy left, Percy asked "Why did he call you Ben Dover?"

"Because I couldn't give him my name!" Nico said like it was obvious.

"Why?"

"What if he was an assassin, on a mission to hunt down a certain Nico Di Angelo?" Nico whispered. "I couldn't take the risk,"

"Uh, I'm pretty sure he was just a pizza guy coming to deliver pizza that we ordered," Percy said slowly.

"Yeah sure… It's that kind of attitude that gets you killed," Nico looked around. "You can never be sure,"

They got the key and went into the elevator, heading to the 600th floor.

"Pizza's here!" Nico yelled as they entered the room.

"Uh, Nico? Why'd you get Pizza?" Beckendorf asked.

"For dinner," Nico raised his eyebrows.

"Wait, how'd you guys get pizza?" Percy eyed all the pizza boxes on the table.

"Apollo zapped it in," Annabeth tried to stop her giggles.

"WHAT!" Percy shouted.

"You mean I risked my own life to get you people pizza that you aren't even going to eat?" Nico frowned.

"Wait, you risked your own life?" Thalia asked.

Percy shook his head and mouthed 'crazy' behind Nico's back.

"Whatever," Percy pouted. "I'm going to eat my pizza, the one that wasn't zapped in,"

"Okay," Thalia shrugged, stuffing mushroom pizza in her mouth like no tomorrow.

Percy ate a slice of Pepperoni Pizza, but slowly stopped.

"Why does this pizza taste like dirty socks and rotten milk?" Percy scowled.

Right then, Connor and Travis walked in laughing crazily. "Oh, I see Percy is eating some pepperoni pizza,"

"Did you do something to it? Is that why it taste so bad? OH MY GODS!" Percy spat it out on the floor.

"Man, am I glad I didn't eat any," Nico eyed the pizza warily. "This is why I'm careful. You never know when someone poisons your food."

"The guy didn't actually work for the pizza company and I don't think you want to know what's in it," Travis said, making everyone burst into laughter.

Percy glared while trying to spit all the remaining pizza bits onto a tissue. "5… 4… 3…"

"I think you should run," Silena suggested.

Connor and Travis yelped and began running as fast as their legs could carry them.

"2… 1… COME BACK AND FACE ME LIKE A MAN!" Percy chased after them.

"I wonder what they sound like when they're screaming…" Beckendorf mused.

"AHHHHHH!" girly screams resounded around the rooms.

"Well now you know," Silena giggled.

"He screams like a girl," Thalia fell on the floor gasping for breath. "Ow, laughing hurts too much,"

"OUCH OUCH OUCH!" Travis shouted.

After 5 minutes of non-stop laughing and screams, Percy finally came back grinning. Behind him, Connor had a black eye and Travis was limping slightly.

"Oh man, that looks bad," Nico winced.

"No, it felt like I just got a nice massage from a hippo!" Travis sarcastically said.

"I don't think hippos can give massages," Silena said.

"No, I don't think they can either," Connor sighed as he sat down.

"Are you okay?" Annabeth asked.

"Yeah, it was totally worth it," Travis grinned.

"Did you see the look on his face?" Connor chuckled.

"Ha-ha, laugh all you want," Percy rolled his eyes.

"Yes we will," everyone burst into another round of laughter.

Percy picked up a slice of pizza, about to put it in his mouth until Nico yelled "PERCY! Look at what you're eating,"

He looked down to realise it was the pepperoni pizza.

"Aw man! So close," Thalia whined.

Percy pretended to gag, and said "I'm not really feeling that hungry anymore, I think I'm just going to go brush my teeth now, be right back."

As soon as Percy left, everyone began laughing. "That was hilarious,"

"I feel kind of bad now," Annabeth said as Silena and Beckendorf agreed.

"You'll get used to it,"

One by one, the Olympians came out of the throne room, just finishing their meeting.

"No we shall not bring him up here… atleast not yet." Zeus said.

"Yeah, it's already bad enough we have those brats here." Dionysus pointed towards the group of kids eating pizza.

Apollo took a slice and sprinkled some Ambrosia on it.

"Where's Percy?" Poseidon asked.

Just then, Percy came out brushing his teeth. "Why eh dere wish in da bahroom?"

"What?" Everyone asked.

Percy rolled his eyes and put up one finger, signalling to just hold on for a moment, than ran back inside. A minute later, he came out holding a bag with a goldfish in it. "Why is there a goldfish in the bathroom?"

"Oh, I was going to give it to Poseidon, but than I got too busy… doing stuff," Apollo glanced at Hermes. "And left it in the sink,"

"No, I'm fine, and don't call me Lord. Nice to meet you Turkey," Percy laid on the ground watching the fish intently.

"Huh?" everyone asked in confusion.

"He's talking to Turkey, the goldfish," Poseidon explained. "Nice to meet you too, Turkey!"

"Why would his name be Turkey if he's a goldfish?" Nico raised his eyebrows.

"Because his dream was to be a turkey!" Percy said it like it was obvious.

"Um… this is kind of weird…" Beckendorf admitted.

Poseidon suddenly blushed and started laughing crazily. Percy joined in too.

"What's so funny?" Annabeth sighed.

"Turkey said that –"

"Dad's girlfriend is hot," Percy finished, laughing.

"I have a girlfriend?" Poseidon was shocked.

"He means Athena," Percy rolled on the floor.

Everyone burst into laughter as Athena and Poseidon stood there glaring at each other.

"I'm already starting to like this goldfish!" Aphrodite cheered.

"Yeah, well I'm not," Athena glared.

There was a long pause after everyone finished laughing.

"Awkward silence!" Apollo blurted out.

"I think you just made it more awkward," Artemis stated.

"Do fish have ADHD?" Percy randomly asked.

"Uh…" Annabeth looked at Percy. "I'm not sure… People usually don't know what the fish are thinking,"

"Yeah, they can have ADHD," Poseidon stated.

"Oh! No wonder, he keeps talking about sparkly fish and bubbles," Percy said.

"Okay… This is kind of weird… Silena mumbled lazily.

"No surprise there," Nico was playing with a slinky.

"Gotta go do something," Poseidon suddenly exclaimed. "Bye, be back soon!"

"I should probably check on… whatever, or atleast get out of this white deathhole" Hades mumbled, and flashed out.

One by one, the gods and goddesses eventually left the room, bored.

"I guess it's just us than," Silena said too cheery for everyone's liking.

"I suddenly wished I followed my dad to the Underworld," Nico inched away slowly.

"Nuh uh, too late!" Silena grabbed onto Nico.

"You know, I think we all need a dose of sugar today," Connor groaned.

"Yeah… I suddenly don't even feel hungry anymore," Travis pushed away his food.

"I guess we're all just a little upset about Silena and Beckendorf leaving again," Annabeth sighed.

Everyone sat there silently for a few moments.

Thalia, not liking the tension in the air, changed the topic. "Wanna know what's going on at camp?"

"Sure…" Silena sniffed.

"Well, its going pretty good, the food is still great, but so healthy," Connor stuck his tongue out.

"The first thing you talk about is food," Annabeth shook her head chuckling.

"We're building more cabins for minor demigods," Percy piped up. "Olympus does not need another rebellion,"

"Silena, I wish you were still at camp," Thalia sighed.

"Yeah, the new Aphrodite Counsellor is Drew, and she's horrible!" Travis said.

"She's hot, but deadly," Connor added.

Everyone whacked him on the head.

"I hate her!" Annabeth scowled. "She treats all her half-brothers and sisters like dirt, and she's a tyrant. Drew is a shallow and conceited slut –"

"But she's hot," Connor interrupted, resulting in more slaps.

"Anyways, the point is that we don't like her," Percy said.

"Yeah, I never liked her anyways," Silena said.

"And Jake Mason took over the role for Hephaestus cabin," Thalia said. "He's pretty cool,"

"But he believes that there's a curse on the Hephaestus cabin after you… passed away," Annabeth said.

"That's Jake for you," Beckendorf smiled warmly.

"Why don't we play Truth or Dare?" Silena suggested. Right than and there, she looked like a Hermes kid, sinister and mischievous.

"NO!" Everyone screamed.

"Fine," Silena pouted.

"How about Would You Rather?" Percy suggested weakly.

"Nah, too boring," Thalia said.

"Hide and seek?" Connor asked.

"What are we, five year olds?" Nico rolled his eyes.

"How about we state our favourite quote?" Annabeth shrugged.

"Isn't that… educational?" Percy frowned.

"Oh my gods, you're hopeless!"

"Thanks!" Percy grinned.

"Okay, let's go with Annabeth's idea," Thalia interrupted.

"Are you serious?" Nico said.

"No, I'm kidding; let's just go kidnap Elmo and ride some dolphins in the sunset!" Thalia whacked Nico on the head.

"Sheesh, you're so violent," Nico grumbled, rubbing his head.

"But quotes are boring," Percy whined.

"Would you rather play Truth or Dare?" Thalia glared.

"No," Percy sighed.

"Wait, what if we don't have a favourite quote?" Beckendorf spoke up.

"Well, you must know a quote…" Thalia insisted.

"Okay, I'll start!" Annabeth smirked. "There are no stupid questions, just stupid people."

"Typical quote from Wise Girl!" Percy exclaimed.

"What's that supposed to mean!"

"You would never blame words, just the people saying them." Percy stated.

"Oh, okay." Annabeth chuckled.

"What a very… interesting quote," Silena commented.

"More like boring," Nico corrected.

"That's a pretty good quote," Thalia grinned.

"Okay, Connor, your next,"

"Actually, me and Travis have the same quote," Connor said.

"It's Travis and I," Annabeth corrected.

"What?" a very confused Connor asked.

"Nevermind," Annabeth groaned. "What is it?"

Connor said "It's not cheating…"

"Unless you get caught," Travis finished, giving Connor a high-five.

"Of course you two would have a quote about something like that!" Percy said.

"Everyone here is too predictable," Annabeth stated. "Silena is going to say something about love, Nico and Thalia's quotes are going to be something violent, and Percy's quote is going to be something dumb."

"Hey! That's hurtful," Percy made a puppy face.

Annabeth just said. "Sorry,"

"What about me?" Beckendorf asked.

"Yours is going to be something unoriginal."

"I'm so proud of you, Annabeth. You know us so well!" Silena beamed with pride.

"Okay, you're next," Percy called to Thalia.

"Most people are only alive because it's illegal to shoot them," Thalia grinned.

"Uh huh, I can just imagine the newspapers now: 15 year old Thalia Grace becomes mass murderer after laws are banned." Percy smirked.

"Yup, that's me. Demigod, daughter of Zeus, lieutenant of Artemis and mass murderer," Thalia smiled back.

"Creepy," Nico's eyes darted around the room.

"It's not that creepy. What's yours?"

"Some people are like slinky's. Pretty much useless but make you smile when you push them down the stairs." Nico grinned darkly.

"What the Hades?" Beckendorf looked at Nico warily.

"Nico, you're making me scared," Silena commented.

"That's such an awesome quote!" Percy beamed. "You know, that's like the perfect quote for a son of Hades."

"Wait, ironic how you were playing with a slinky before…" Annabeth trailed off.

"Uh huh," Nico tried not to grin.

Beckendorf just stood there staring.

"Wow…" Connor and Travis said in awe.

"I'll go next," Silena chirped. "Love conquers all,"

"Typical," Annabeth shook her head.

Percy yelped. "Oh my gods…"

"What?" Beckendorf asked.

"Uhh…" Percy rubbed his neck nervously. "Aphrodite kind of… told me that too."

Nico and Percy blushed red as everyone dropped to the floor laughing.

"That's… sooo hilarious!"

"Ha-Ha," Percy said sarcastically. "Beckendorf, go."

"Uh… I can't think of a quote," Beckendorf said after he finished laughing.

"Oh come on Charlie," Silena encouraged.

"Yeah, come on Charlie!" Connor mocked, getting slapped. His cheek is starting to hurt now.

"Okay um… When life gives you lemons, make lemonade," Beckendorf said hesitantly.

"BOR-ING!" Travis called.

"It should be something like When life gives you lemons, squirt them into someone's face!" Connor said excitedly.

Nico grinned. "Or When life gives you lemons, throw it back at life!"

"Can you even do that?" Percy asked curiously.

Annabeth said "I don't think so," as everyone else shrugged.

"Alrighty, Seaweed Brain, your up!" Annabeth called.

"Actually I can't be up, or else Zeus would zap me dead with his huge lightning thing."

Annabeth rolled his eyes. "Just go,"

"Fine," Percy said. "Percy Jackson is undoubtedly the awesomest person ever."

Everyone rolled their eyes.

"That's not a quote. To quote is to repeat or copy out a group of words from a text or speech, typically with an indication that one is not the original author or speaker," Annabeth recited.

"Wow…" Nico said with a face that clear meant 'what a nerd.'

"Well, too bad," Percy smirked.

"You need to say another quote,"

"No," Percy crossed his arms stubbornly.

"Yes!"

"I don't want too,"

"Too bad,"

Suddenly the doors opened, revealing Hephaestus and Aphrodite.

"Oh thank gods," Thalia let out a breath.

"Can I talk to you, Silena?" Aphrodite asked softly.

"Sure," Silena got up and walked out the door.

"Uh, it's kind of late, we'll be going to bed. Good night Beckendorf," Thalia dragged everyone else out of the room.

"You leaving tonight?" Hephaestus asked in his gruff voice.

Beckendorf nodded.

They stayed in awkward silence, until finally Hephaestus said "It was great seeing you,"

"I've got to tell you something. I'm…" Beckendorf hesitated. Did he really want to tell him that his son was dead? That this would be the last time he would see him this old? "I'm… going to miss you,"

Beckendorf put up a fake smile, even though he was feeling horrible inside.

Hephaestus smiled back and held his hand out to shake. "You can always see me in your present time,"

"Maybe…" he whispered quietly. Instead of shaking his hand, Beckendorf pulled him into a hug. To say Hephaestus was stunned was an understatement.

"Good night," Beckendorf did a little wave, than retreated to the door.

"Wait!" Hephaestus quickly called out, causing Beckendorf to turn around curiously.

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to miss you too. Good night, Charlie." He flashed out.

"So what'd you want to talk to me about?" Silena asked.

"Oh, I just wanted to say good bye before you go," Aphrodite smiled sadly. "I'm so proud of you!"

You shouldn't be, Silena thought bitterly. "Thanks, but mother I…" she faltered. Should she tell her? What is there to say, that she's dead because she went against family and friends? Gods, why did she have to be so naïve as to be manipulated! "I –"

"No matter what happens, I'll always be proud of you," Aphrodite interrupted, with a determined look.

Silena looked stunned. It was like she could hear her thoughts. She looked down at the ground with a sinking feeling. "But…"

"You should get to bed now. See you in the future," Aphrodite hugged Silena, than gave her a gentle nudge.

"Bye mom, love you too," Silena wore a faint smile. "By the way, why was Hephaestus here?"

"That old man doesn't know how to express his feelings. But he has a big heart." Aphrodite faded away, only leaving the scent of rose pedals.

Beckendorf and Silena walked through the massive door with the omega symbol, leading into the guest room that they slept in. Inside, the lights were turned off, but they could still see the walls. Many different shades of white slowly but constantly moved with the imaginary currents. It gave off a very dim light, making it look greyish. Gold patterns were etched along the top. Four beds were placed side by side in the corner. Two were occupied by Thalia and Annabeth while Percy and Nico slept in a sleeping bag on the floor. On the other side of the room held a fairly large bookshelf with 4 beanbag chairs sprawled nearby.

"Olympus looks so pretty," Silena whispered, leaning into Beckendorf.

"Not as pretty as after I re-built it…" Annabeth mumbled sleepily.

"I'm trying to go to sleep," Nico stretched out the words. "Go eat each other…"

"We're not cannibals, stop trying to get us to eat each other!" Percy groaned in annoyance, than began snoring.

Beckendorf and Silena both shook their heads smiling, than got ready for bed.

"Good night Charlie," Silena yawned.

Beckendorf silently smiled. "Good night, see you in Elysium,"


	11. Chapter 11

"It's so lonely without Beckendorf and Silena…" Annabeth mumbled.

"Don't worry, you'll be able to see them at camp!" Aphrodite said cheerily.

"Sure…" the group of demigods sighed, knowing full well that they won't see them.

"What time is it?" Nico whined.

"It's 9:57. Three more minutes until the next person will arrive…"

"WHO DID YOU PICK?" Connor asked desperately, clinging onto Percy's shirt collar.

"Dude… calm down, take deep breaths!" Percy said, as he backed away slowly.

"Sorry, it's the stupid ADHD. We've been waiting here for so long!" Connor slammed his head against the marble columns.

"It's only been 5 minutes…" Annabeth trailed off.

"Please try to not destroy Olympus," Apollo said, looking at Connor. "I'd really hate to be homeless."

"Whatever…" Connor looked like he was being tortured.

"Gods can't be homeless unless they want to," Annabeth looked at Apollo weirdly.

"One minute left… Get ready!" Travis called out.

"WAIT! The note said they'd appear in the black pot, but last time, Beckendorf and Silena weren't there…" Annabeth said.

"Screw the note, they're probably not going to appear in a freaking black pot…" Nico waved his hand.

They all shrugged and looked towards the spot where Silena and Beckendorf appeared last time.

"3… 2… 1… 0!" They all stood there confused.

"WHAT THE HADES AM I DOING HERE?" everyone turned around just in time to see the top of the pot fly off.

"I didn't do that," Travis and Connor said automatically.

"How did I get in a pot?" A girl mumbled as she fumbled her way out, only to fall.

Percy and Nico couldn't help it but fall on the floor laughing.

The girl looked up. "CAN IT PRISSY! What am I doing…" Clarisse trailed off as she noticed the Olympians standing there.

"We have no clue what you're doing," Connor said innocently.

"Why am I on Olympus?" Clarisse ignored Connor. "Why isn't it in ruins?"

"What does she mean?" Athena asked. "Why would it be in ruins?"

"Clarisse, we're in the past. The gods are from the past. Percy, Thalia, Nico, Connor, Travis and I are from your time."

"Oh…" Clarisse was speechless. "Am I being punk'd?"

"I wish," Nico muttered.

"Clarisse!" Ares walked up to his daughter. "You've grown so old and strong! Nice job at getting a quest."

Clarisse was stunned. "Uh, how'd you know 'bout that if you're from the past?"

"You're explaining this time, Thalia!" Annabeth called.

"Fine!" Thalia groaned and began telling her everything that has happened.

After a 5 minute talk, Clarisse said "So basically we're reading a book about Prissy?"

"You should have just said that from the start," Percy yawned on the floor. Everyone else was incredibly bored too.

"Whatever, you're explaining to the next person," Thalia glared.

"I don't have to; remember the first time Apollo recorded the whole explanation?"

"WHA?!" Thalia screeched. She had steam coming out of her ears. "UGH. I totally forgot about that." She threw her head in her hands as Annabeth patted her arm sympathetically.

"Woopsies, guess we forgot to tell ya," Hades said monotonously. "Anyways, can we hurry up and read so I can go back to my own domain?"

"Doesn't hanging out with the dead got lonely?" Travis asked.

"It is, but you people give me headaches, and Olympus is too bright. It would be much better if it was black."

"I agree!" Nico chimed in.

"Like father like son," Demeter scowled.

"Okay, so I'll start reading," Hera said, taking the book off the ground.

**"I Have the Worst Family Reunion Ever,"** Hera read.

"Oh, don't tell me you met Hades again," Demeter smirked. "Isn't one time enough?"

Hades glared. "How rude."

"HA, you know what's rude? STEALING SOMEONE'S DAUGHTER!" Demeter exploded.

"I didn't steal her," Hades protested. "I'm just… borrowing her… for a long time."

Apollo cleared his throat. "Translation: I stole your daughter because I felt like it. It wasn't my fault."

"You've got to admit, that does sound kind of funny," Aphrodite giggled.

"Whatever," Hades growled. "I can do whatever I want. I'm the lord of the dead!"

"And everyone calls me dramatic," Zeus shook his head.

"That's because you are," Poseidon smirked.

"YOU'RE not off the hook either, Zeus," Demeter said pointedly. "You allowed him to go behind my back!"

The gods rolled their eyes and the demigods snickered.

"Have they done this a lot?" Clarrisse whispered to Annabeth.

"Yes. Yes they have."

**Annabeth volunteered to go alone since she had the cap of invisibility, but I convinced her it was too dangerous.**

"You're just going to get her killed," Athena rolled her eyes.

"Mother…" Annabeth said.

Athena shrugged innocently, a smile playing on her lips. "What, I'm just stating the truth,"

**Either we all went together, or nobody went.**

**"Nobody!" Tyson voted. "Please?"**

"What a wimp," Ares crossed his arms as Clarisse agreed. No one said anything, but they rolled their eyes in annoyance.

"He got his wish," Percy said with a snicker.

Clarisse smiled then turned it into a grimace.

"You know what it is too?" Apollo asked incredulously.

Clarisse looked at the other demigods who were shaking their heads. She waved her hand and said simply, "no idea."

**But in the end he came along, nervously chewing on his huge fingernails. We stopped at our cabin long enough to gather our stuff. We figured whatever happened, we would not be staying another night aboard the zombie cruise ship, even if they did have million-dollar bingo. **

"Million-dollar bingo?" Connor perked up.

"You know how many pranks we could pull with all that money?" Travis said excitedly.

All the demigods glared at them, remembering all the pranks.

**I made sure Riptide was in my pocket and the vitamins and thermos from Hermes were at the top of my bag. I didn't want Tyson to carry everything, but he insisted, and Annabeth told me not to worry about it. Tyson could carry three full duffel bags over his shoulder as easily as I could carry a backpack.**

**We sneaked through the corridors, following the ship's YOU ARE HERE signs toward the admiralty suite. Annabeth scouted ahead invisibly. We hid whenever someone passed by, but most of the people we saw were just glassy-eyed zombie passengers.**

"I'm starting to feel kind of sorry for those mortals," Hestia spoke up. Everyone looked kind of startled because they totally forgot she was there.

"Don't be, they're just mortals," Hera muttered.

"And you're just gods," Annabeth retorted.

"Ah, but we're hot gods," Apollo winked.

Thalia pretended to gag and Apollo pouted, then said "You know you love me," causing Artemis to glare. He continued. "Everyone loves me."

**As we came up the stairs to deck thirteen, where the admiralty suite was supposed to be, Annabeth hissed, "Hide!" and shoved us into a supply closet.**

"First the women's washroom, and now the supply closet…" Connor smirked.

"You better not be thinking anything wrong," Percy and Nico narrowed his eyes.

"Me? No way," Connor had an innocent face on.

**I heard a couple of guys coming down the hall.**

**"You see that Aethiopian drakon in the cargo hold?" one of them said.**

"Drakon? Cool!" Ares said as Clarisse smiled proudly, remembering her experiences with a drakon.

**The other laughed. "Yeah, it's awesome."**

**Annabeth was still invisible, but she squeezed my arm hard. I got a feeling I should know that second guy's voice.**

**"I hear they got two more coming," the familiar voice said. "They keep arriving at this rate, oh, man—no contest!"**

**The voices faded down the corridor.**

**"That was Chris Rodriguez!"**

"Chris Rodriguez… My Chris?" Hermes looked confused, then broken. Not another one of my children.

Clarisse grimaced while Connor and Travis looked at the floor silently.

**Annabeth took off her cap and turned visible. "You remember—from Cabin Eleven."**

**I sort of recalled Chris from the summer before. He was one of those undetermined campers who got stuck in the Hermes cabin because his Olympian dad or mom never claimed him. **

Ironic how he was in his dad's cabin anyways, Apollo thought.

"I'm such a horrible father…" Hermes croaked. "First L-Luke, now Chris,"

The room seemed to get warmer, and cosier. Everyone seemed to relax a little more. They all smiled and thanked Lady Hestia.

"You can always change everything, right?" Connor encouraged.

"But Athena said –" Hermes stopped talking because Athena was shaking her head and mouthing 'not yet.'

Annabeth cocked her head curiously. "Mom said what?"

"Nothing," Athena quickly said, but Annabeth still looked suspicious.

"Look, Lord Hermes. I promise you, everything will be well in the end," Percy assured him. "For Chris and Luke."

Hermes gave a him half-hearted smile.

**Now that I thought about it, I realized I hadn't seen Chris at camp this summer. "What's another half-blood doing here?"**

**Annabeth shook her head, clearly troubled.**

**We kept going down the corridor. I didn't need maps anymore to know I was getting close to Luke.**

"You're not very good at reading maps anyways," Annabeth smiled.

**I sensed something cold and unpleasant—the presence of evil.**

"Not going to die…" Poseidon quietly said to himself.

**"Percy." Annabeth stopped suddenly. "Look."**

Poseidon, Nico and Athena looked nervous.

**She stood in front of a glass wall looking down into the multi-storey canyon that ran through the middle of the ship. At the bottom was the Promenade—a mall full of shops— **

"Shopping! Ooh, I suddenly want to go shopping," Aphrodite pouted.

"Later! We're in the middle of something interesting, hopefully fighting," Ares had a gleam in his eyes.

"Hopefully, there's no fighting in this chapter," Poseidon gave a warning look to Ares.

**but that's not what had caught Annabeth's attention.**

**A group of monsters had assembled in front of the candy store:**

Connor's stomach growled.

"Oh yeah, we didn't eat breakfast yet…" Percy realized.

**a dozen Laistrygonian giants like the ones who'd attacked me with dodge balls, two hellhounds, and a few even stranger creatures—humanoid females with twin serpent tails instead of legs.**

**"Scythian Dracaenae," Annabeth whispered. "Dragon women."**

**The monsters made a semicircle around a young guy in Greek armor who was hacking on a straw dummy. A lump formed in my throat when I realized the dummy was wearing an orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt. **

"Poor dummy," Demeter frowned.

Travis gulped. "Poor shirt."

"Huh, I wonder what it feels like to be a dummy," Apollo wondered.

"Oh, you haven't figured that out yet?" Artemis stated happily.

Apollo rubbed his imaginary beard. "I'm just going to take that as a compliment."

Artemis groaned.

**As we watched, the guy in armor stabbed the dummy through its belly and ripped upward. Straw flew everywhere. The monsters cheered and howled.**

"Well, not a very happy sight, is it now…" Hephaestus said.

"Uh, no, not really," Percy grimaced.

"It would be interesting to watch though," Ares added.

**Annabeth stepped away from the window. Her face was ashen.**

**"Come on," I told her, trying to sound braver than I felt. "The sooner we find Luke the better."**

**At the end of the hallway were double oak doors that looked like they must lead somewhere important. When we were thirty feet away, Tyson stopped. "Voices inside."**

**"You can hear that far?" I asked.**

"Of course he can, he's a Cyclops," Athena stated.

**Tyson closed his eye like he was concentrating hard. Then his voice changed, becoming a husky approximation of Luke's.**

"Wow, I know that's supposed to be creepy and everything, but… that's really cool!" Ares exclaimed.

"No, it's not!" Thalia disagreed.

**"—the prophecy ourselves. The fools won't know which way to turn."**

**Before I could react, Tyson's voice changed again, becoming deeper and gruffer, like the other guy we'd heard talking to Luke outside the cafeteria. "You really think the old horseman is gone for good?"**

"Chiron would be really offended for that," Percy commented.

"I'm sure Chiron is okay with being called an old horseman," Connor smirked.

"Didn't he throw strawberries at you the last time you said that to him?"

"Nah, that was when we snuck into the big house and videotaped him using curlers on his tail," Travis said, causing the Olympians to snicker.

"Yeah," Connor agreed. "All he did was beat his hooves unhappily and trot away muttering about ungrateful kids. Didn't seem that offended to me."

Everyone shook their heads smiling.

**Tyson laughed Luke's laugh. "They can't trust him. Not with the skeletons in his closet. The poisoning of the tree was the final straw."**

**Annabeth shivered. "Stop that, Tyson! How do you do that? It's creepy."**

"Very creepy," Thalia shuddered.

**Tyson opened his eye and looked puzzled. "Just listening."**

**"Keep going," I said. "What else are they saying?"**

**Tyson closed his eye again.**

**He hissed in the gruff man's voice: "Quiet!" Then Luke's voice, whispering: "Are you sure?"**

**"Yes," Tyson said in the gruff voice. "Right outside."**

"Oh gods, they found you!" Thalia bit her lip.

"Not going to die, not going to die!" Poseidon and Nico went into hysterics, until Demeter sent some vines to shut Poseidon up.

"Thank you!" Hades rolled his eyes at his weird brother.

**Too late, I realized what was happening.**

**I just had time to say, "Run!" when the doors of the stateroom burst open and there was Luke, flanked by two hairy giants armed with javelins, their bronze tips aimed right at our chests.**

**"Well," Luke said with a crooked smile. "If it isn't my two favorite cousins. Come right in."**

"I should've said: 'No, its okay. I'll stay outside and enjoy the wonderful floor decorations,'" Percy muttered.

"Like that would help," Zeus scoffed.

"Just trying to be optimistic," Percy said.

Demeter said "Keyword is trying."

Thalia pretended to gasp. "Since when did the almighty Percy Jackson become optimistic?"

"Since you stopped zapping people."

"That doesn't even make sense, I still do that," Thalia made an example and shocked Percy.

"You should probably stop zapping him before he loses all his brain cells," Nico joked.

"Too late," Athena chuckled.

"Hey!" Percy objected as all the Olympians turned to Athena.

"Sorry, it was too tempting."

**The stateroom was beautiful, and it was horrible.**

**The beautiful part: Huge windows curved along the back wall, looking out over the stern of the ship. Green sea and blue sky stretched all the way to the horizon. A Persian rug covered the floor. Two plush sofas occupied the middle of the room, with a canopied bed in one corner and a mahogany dining table in the other. The table was loaded with food—pizza boxes, bottles of soda, and a stack of roast beef sandwiches on a silver platter.**

"Fooood," Apollo slurred the word.

"Well that sounds very nice," Aphrodite nodded. "That would be a nice place to live."

**The horrible part: On a velvet dais at the back of the room lay a ten-foot-long golden casket. A sarcophagus, engraved with Ancient Greek scenes of cities in flames and heroes dying grisly deaths. Despite the sunlight streaming through the windows, the casket made the whole room feel cold.**

"Oh, you know, on second thought, I'd rather just stay on Olympus," Aphrodite wrinkled her nose.

"Same," Everyone agreed.

**"Well," Luke said, spreading his arms proudly. "A little nicer than Cabin Eleven, huh?"**

Hermes flinched. "What's wrong with Cabin Eleven again?"

"Well, and I quote Percy, 'It looked like a gym where the Red Cross had set up an evacuation center,'" Nico said slowly as Percy glared at him.

"I guess I do have to make a few adjustments…" Hermes said to himself quietly.

**He'd changed since the last summer. Instead of Bermuda shorts and a T-shirt, he wore a button-down shirt, khaki pants, and leather loafers. His sandy hair, which used to be so unruly, was now clipped short. He looked like an evil male model, showing off what the fashionable college-age villain was wearing to Harvard this year.**

Nico snorted as everyone laughed crazily, including Thalia.

"Some interesting thoughts there," Aphrodite giggled, as Percy blushed red.

"Kelp head, are you unsure of who you like?" Thalia asked innocently.

"I have a boyfriend!" Percy stamped his feet like a 5 year old as Nico watched all this in amusement.

"It's okay if you have more than one male lover," everyone glanced at Apollo, who just winked and said "I can't help it if I love variety."

"This is really weird," Percy muttered and sat back down as everyone just continued laughing.

**He still had the scar under his eye—a jagged white line from his battle with a dragon. And propped against the sofa was his magical sword, Backbiter, glinting strangely with its half-steel, half-Celestial bronze blade that could kill both mortals and monsters.**

**"Sit," he told us. He waved his hand and three dining chairs scooted themselves into the center of the room.**

"Never sit when an enemy asks you to," Nico warned. "Next thing you know, you're glued to the chair with raw eggs being thrown at you."

"Oh… Good to know…" Percy trailed off.

"When has that happened?" Thalia asked curiously.

"Oh, you know. It was that time when those people were after me in that one state with the -"

"-The awesome fries but the lousy burgers and the dogs who chased their owners?" Percy finished with a shared laugh between him and Nico.

"Good times, man," Nico said. "Good times."

"My hair and raw eggs just don't go together," Aphrodite grabbed her hair protectively.

**None of us sat.**

**Luke's large friends were still pointing their javelins at us. They looked like twins, but they weren't human. They stood about eight feet tall, for one thing, and wore only blue jeans, probably because their enormous chests were already shag-carpeted with thick brown fur. They had claws for fingernails, feet like paws. Their noses were snout like, and their teeth were all pointed canines.**

"Not very attractive if I say so myself," Aphrodite made a face.

"Funny," Artemis said, "considering you were the one who caused them to be born." Artemis crossed her arms and glared at Aphrodite.

"Hmph." Aphrodite said with a grimace.

**"Where are my manners?" Luke said smoothly. **

"They went down the drain when you tried to kill me last summer," Percy muttered as Poseidon and Nico looked nervous again.

**"These are my assistants, Agrius and Oreius. Perhaps you've heard of them."**

**I said nothing. Despite the javelins pointed at me, it wasn't the bear twins who scared me.**

**I'd imagined meeting Luke again many times since he'd tried to kill me last summer. I'd pictured myself boldly standing up to him, challenging him to a duel. **

Thalia said "Yeah right."

"A guy can dream," Percy replied.

But now that we were face-to-face, I could barely stop my hands from shaking.

Nobody mentioned anything at this because most of them understood how scary Luke was. Nobody, that is, except for Clarisse. "Such a wimp," She muttered.

**"You don't know Agrius and Oreius's story?" **

Artemis frowned and crossed her arms.

**Luke asked. "Their mother ... well, it's sad, really. Aphrodite ordered the young woman to fall in love. She refused and ran to Artemis for help. Artemis let her become one of her maiden huntresses, but Aphrodite got her revenge. She bewitched the young woman into falling in love with a bear. When Artemis found out, she abandoned the girl in disgust.**

"It's not my fault she fell in love," Artemis said the word in disgust and glared at Aphrodite, who smirked tauntingly back.

**Typical of the gods, wouldn't you say? They fight with one another and the poor humans get caught in the middle.**

Some of the gods looked angry.

**The girl's twin sons here, Agrius and Oreius, have no love for Olympus. They like half-bloods well enough, though ..."**

"Does that mean he won't eat you?" Poseidon asked hopefully.

"Don't count on it," Zeus said.

**"For lunch," Agrius growled. His gruff voice was the one I'd heard talking with Luke earlier.**

Poseidon seemed to deflate again. "Oh."

"Do we really taste that good? They seem to always say that line…" Connor said.

"I bet you we would taste terrific with syrup!" Travis smiled.

"Enough with the syrup already," everyone said at the same time.

**"Hehe! Hehe!" His brother Oreius laughed, licking his fur-lined lips. He kept laughing like he was having an asthmatic fit until Luke and Agrius both stared at him.**

Ares snickered at the thought and Hermes tried to smile.

**"Shut up, you idiot!" Agrius growled. "Go punish yourself!"**

**Oreius whimpered. He trudged over to the corner of the room, slumped onto a stool, and banged his forehead against the dining table, making the silver plates rattle.**

"Poor kid," Apollo stifled his laugh.

**Luke acted like this was perfectly normal behavior. **

"It probably was for him," Connor said.

**He made himself comfortable on the sofa and propped his feet up on the coffee table. "Well, Percy, we let you survive another year. I hope you appreciated it. How's your mom? How's school?"**

"School's fine but I got kicked out of it like always, and my mother is doing great, how about you?" Percy said sarcastically, making most people smile. Hermes, Annabeth, and Thalia, however, looked sad.

**"You poisoned Thalia's tree."**

**Luke sighed. "Right to the point, eh? Okay, sure I poisoned the tree. So what?"**

"How could he say it so casually," Nico and Percy clenched their hands angrily as Thalia winced.

Zeus roared in anger. "I will send him to Tartarus for doing that, and he will regret it!"

Athena stood up and tried to calm Zeus down. "Let's just wait until after we finish reading the books."

Zeus glared, but sat down defeated.

**"How could you?" Annabeth sounded so angry I thought she'd explode.**

"I felt like I was going to," Annabeth said.

**"Thalia saved your life! Our lives! How could you dishonor her—"**

**"I didn't dishonor her!" Luke snapped. "The gods dishonored her, Annabeth! If Thalia were alive, she'd be on my side."**

"It looks like he doesn't know me at all," Thalia spat.

**"Liar!"**

**"If you knew what was coming, you'd understand—"**

**"I understand you want to destroy the camp!" she yelled. "You're a monster!"**

"Yeah Annabeth!" Connor and Travis cheered. "You tell him!"

**Luke shook his head. "The gods have blinded you. Can't you imagine a world without them, Annabeth? What good is that ancient history you study? Three thousand years of baggage! The West is rotten to the core. It has to be destroyed. Join me! We can start the world anew. **

Zeus narrowed his eyes.

Hermes felt horrible, but he was finally beginning to understand what his son felt.

**We could use your intelligence, Annabeth."**

**"Because you have none of your own!"**

Athena smiled.

**His eyes narrowed. "I know you, Annabeth. You deserve better than tagging along on some hopeless quest to save the camp. **

**"It's not hopeless!" Percy said angrily.**

**Half-Blood Hill will be overrun by monsters within the month. The heroes who survive will have no choice but to join us or be hunted to extinction. **

"Yes, we are so being hunted into extinction right now," Thalia rolled her eyes.

**You really want to be on a losing team ... with company like this?" Luke pointed at Tyson.**

"Hey!" Poseidon looked offended.

**"Hey!" I said.**

Everyone smiled or chuckled at the resemblance.

"There's nothing wrong with Tyson!" Aphrodite said. "Except for the fact that he's not the cutest thing of the bunch."

"You're really good at defensive talks aren't you," Artemis said, dripping with sarcasm.

**"Traveling with a Cyclops," Luke chided. "Talk about dishonoring Thalia's memory! I'm surprised at you, Annabeth. You of all people—"**

**"Stop it!" she shouted.**

**I didn't know what Luke was talking about, but Annabeth buried her head in her hands like she was about to cry.**

**"Leave her alone," I said. "And leave Tyson out this."**

**Luke laughed. "Oh, yeah, I heard. Your father claimed him."**

"Spy," Hera said through gritted teeth.

**I must have looked surprised, because Luke smiled. "Yes, Percy, I know all about that. And about your plan to find the Fleece. What were those coordinates, again ... 30, 31, 75, 12? You see, I still have friends at camp who keep me posted."**

**"Spies, you mean."**

Hermes flinched, thinking about Chris.

**He shrugged. "How many insults from your father can you stand, Percy? **

**You think he's grateful to you? **

"I am," Poseidon's eyes burned with fury.

**You think Poseidon cares for you any more than he cares for this monster?"**

"That's because we're both his sons," Percy said easily as Poseidon nodded in agreement.

**Tyson clenched his fists and made a rumbling sound down in his throat.**

**Luke just chuckled. "The gods are so using you, Percy. Do you have any idea what's in store for you if you reach your sixteenth birthday? Has Chiron even told you the prophecy?"**

"Gods, he may be good at convincing people, but Percy would never switch sides," Nico said as Percy smiled. Then leaned against his chest.

**I wanted to get in Luke's face and tell him off, but as usual, he knew just how to throw me off balance.**

**Sixteenth birthday?**

**I mean, I knew Chiron had received a prophecy from the Oracle many years ago. I knew part of it was about me. But, if I reached my sixteenth birthday? I didn't like the sound of that.**

"Me either," Poseidon bit his lip.

**"I know what I need to know," I managed. "Like, who my enemies are."**

**"Then you're a fool."**

"He's the fool," Zeus said darkly.

**Tyson smashed the nearest dining chair to splinters. "Percy is not a fool!"**

**Before I could stop him, he charged Luke. **

Percy smiled. He was glad to have Tyson by his side.

**His fists came down toward Luke's head—a double overhead blow that would've knocked a hole in titanium—but the bear twins intercepted. They each caught one of Tyson's arms and stopped him cold. **

"Darn," Ares grunted. "I wanted the Cyclops to snap Luke like a twig,"

"That would have saved a lot of fighting," Percy agreed.

"I take that back," Ares changed his mind. "More fighting to read about!"

Poseidon panicked. "Noooo!"

**They pushed him back and Tyson stumbled. He fell to the carpet so hard the deck shook.**

**"Too bad, Cyclops," Luke said. "Looks like my grizzly friends together are more than a match for your strength. Maybe I should let them—"**

**"Luke," I cut in. "Listen to me. Your father sent us."**

Hermes had a grim face on. "Maybe you shouldn't have mentioned that…"

**His face turned the color of pepperoni.**

"Do you always have to compare things to food?" Connor groaned.

**"Don't—even— mention him."**

"Too late," Aphrodite said perkily.

**"He told us to take this boat. I thought it was just for a ride, but he sent us here to find you. He told me he won't give up on you, no matter how angry you are."**

**"Angry?" Luke roared. "Give up on me? He abandoned me, Percy!**

Each word was a piercing blow to Hermes.

**I want Olympus destroyed! Every throne crushed to rubble! You tell Hermes it's going to happen, too. Each time a half-blood joins us, the Olympians grow weaker and we grow stronger. He grows stronger." Luke pointed to the gold sarcophagus.**

**The box creeped me out, but I was determined not to show it. "So?" I demanded. "What's so special ..."**

**Then it hit me, what might be inside the sarcophagus. The temperature in the room seemed to drop twenty degrees. "Whoa, you don't mean—"**

Athena's eyes widened in fear. "I didn't think it would be this… fast,"

**"He is re-forming," Luke said. "Little by little, we're calling his life force out of the pit. With every recruit who pledges our cause, another small piece appears—"**

Zeus closed his eyes to calm himself while the Olympians looked disturbed.

**"That's disgusting!" Annabeth said.**

**Luke sneered at her. "Your mother was born from Zeus's split skull, Annabeth. I wouldn't talk.**

Athena narrowed her eyes.

**Soon there will be enough of the titan lord so that we can make him whole again. We will piece together a new body for him, a work worthy of the forges of Hephaestus."**

"He did not just compare my forges to that," Hephaestus looked disgusted.

**"You're insane," Annabeth said.**

"We knew that a long time ago," Connor mumbled.

**"Join us and you'll be rewarded. We have powerful friends, sponsors rich enough to buy this cruise ship and much more. Percy, your mother will never have to work again. You can buy her a mansion. You can have power, fame—whatever you want.**

"Too late Luke, I offered her that already," Poseidon talked to himself.

"Is he okay…?" Nico raised his eyebrows.

"He'll be okay, maybe…" Zeus shrugged.

**Annabeth, you can realize your dream of being an architect. You can build a monument to last a thousand years. A temple to the lords of the next age!"**

Annabeth smiled. She already got to build something better than that.

**"Go to Tartarus," she said.**

**Luke sighed. "A shame."**

**He picked up something that looked like a TV remote and pressed a red button. **

"Uh oh, red buttons are never good," Apollo said.

"We could have figured that much on our own," Hera said.

**Within seconds the door of the stateroom opened and two uniformed crew members came in, armed with nightsticks. They had the same glassy-eyed look as the other mortals I'd seen, but I had a feeling this wouldn't make them any less dangerous in a fight.**

**"Ah, good, security," Luke said, "I'm afraid we have some stowaways."**

**"Yes, sir," they said dreamily.**

**Luke turned to Oreius. "It's time to feed the Aethiopian drakon. Take these fools below and show them how it's done."**

Poseidon and Nico looked worriedly at the book.

**Oreius grinned stupidly. "Hehe! Hehe!"**

Percy couldn't help but laugh as everyone stared at him weirdly.

"Sorry, he just sounds so stupid,"

**"Let me go, too," Agrius grumbled. "My brother is worthless. That Cyclops—"**

**"Is no threat," Luke said. He glanced back at the golden casket, as if something were troubling him. "Agrius, stay here. We have important matters to discuss."**

**"But—"**

**"Oreius, don't fail me. Stay in the hold to make sure the drakon is properly fed."**

**Oreius prodded us with his javelin and herded us out of the stateroom, followed by the two human security guards.**

**As I walked down the corridor with Oreius's javelin poking me in the back, I thought about what Luke had said—that the bear twins together were a match for Tyson's strength. But maybe separately …**

"It's like they wanted you to let you go," Demeter suddenly looked all suspicious.

They probably did, Athena thought hard. But why?

**We exited the corridor amidships and walked across an open deck lined with lifeboats. I knew the ship well enough to realize this would be our last look at sunlight. Once we got to the other side, we'd take the elevator down into the hold, and that would be it.**

**I looked at Tyson and said, "Now."**

**Thank the gods, he understood. He turned and smacked Oreius thirty feet backward into the swimming pool, right into the middle of the zombie tourist family.**

**"Ah!" the kids yelled in unison. "We are not having a blast in the pool!"**

"The way they say it is kind of funny," Apollo looked amused.

"Aww, poor zombie kids are not having a blast." Connor said.

**One of the security guards drew his nightstick, but Annabeth knocked the wind out of him with a well-placed kick. The other guard ran for the nearest alarm box.**

**"Stop him!" Annabeth yelled, but it was too late.**

**Just before I banged him on head with a deck chair, he hit the alarm.**

**Red lights flashed. Sirens wailed.**

**"Lifeboat!" I yelled.**

**We ran for the nearest one.**

**By the time we got the cover off, monsters and more security men were swarming the deck, pushing aside tourists and waiters with trays of tropical drinks. **

"Well, that's not very kind," Aphrodite frowned.

"Attempting to murder little kids isn't very nice either but they do it anyways," Percy shrugged innocently.

**A guy in Greek armor drew his sword and charged, but slipped in a puddle of piña colada. **

"Ha! And the food strikes back!" Connor cheered with his brother.

**Laistrygonian archers assembled on the deck above us, notching arrows in their enormous bows.**

**"How do you launch this thing?" screamed Annabeth.**

Poseidon looked like he wanted to rip his hair out.

**A hellhound leaped at me, but Tyson slammed it aside with a fire extinguisher.**

"Ouch, that must've hurt," Hephaestus said.

"That hellhound just got owned!" Ares exclaimed.

**"Get in!" I yelled. I uncapped Riptide and slashed the first volley of arrows out of the air. Any second we would be overwhelmed.**

**The lifeboat was hanging over the side of the ship, high above the water. Annabeth and Tyson were having no luck with the release pulley.**

**I jumped in beside them.**

**"Hold on!" I yelled, and I cut the ropes.**

**A shower of arrows whistled over our heads as we free-fell toward the ocean.**

"Okay, the chapter's done,"

"You guys done reading already?" Dionysus took off his headphones.

"You weren't listening?" Hestia asked.

"No wonder we didn't hear any irritating comments," Percy said.

Dionysus ignored Percy and said "Of course I wouldn't be listening when the new audio catalogue of 'Wine of the Gods' just came out,"

"Too bad you can't drink any," Zeus gave a warning look.

"Yeah," Dionysus sighed sadly.

"Let's go eat some breakfast, I'm starving!" Apollo suggested.

"Yeah, we need to get in touch with our food side," Connor agreed.

"That way, when we're in trouble, you can call on your trusty food to help you!" Travis grinned.

The goddesses rolled their eyes but they were hungry too.


	12. Breakfast & Chapter 12

The Olympus kitchen was beautifully sparkling with gold swirls etched on the walls. The cabinets were stocked with everything you could ever want to eat, and in the center of the room was a dining table with comfy chairs fit for kings, or in this case, Olympians. Everyone sat around the marble dining table like a 'regular' family, eating cereal and chatting with each other.

"No, no! The clouds have to be puffier, or else they'll turn square, and the mortals are very fussing about that kind of stuff." Zeus said, as Thalia rolled her eyes.

"I liked my son, Albert Einstein, but I'm sure you'll be much more brilliant," Athena beamed to Annabeth.

"If you just threaten to cut off their limbs one by one, they'll start listening to you right away," Hades explained to a smiling Dionysus.

"Next time they mess with you, just take these bamboo skewers, and stab them in the eye!" Ares smiled maniacally.

"More! Eat More!" Connor and Travis exclaimed as Nico gulped down bowls of sugar.

"Where is all the sugar for the cereal?!" Apollo whined.

"Just poof some up," Artemis rolled her eyes.

"CEREAL FIGHT!" Ares yelled after he got hit with milk and cocoa puffs. Everyone began throwing cereal and milk at each other.

"NO! MY PRECIOUS CEREAL!" Demeter screamed like a 3 year old who just lost her favourite teddy bear.

"MY HAIR! CURSE YOU ALL," Aphrodite ran out the room yelling.

Poseidon and Percy were cheating by creating oatmeal, then throwing it in people's eyes.

"I CAN'T SEE ANY- oof, I think I have a concussion… Are you the pony I always wished for?" Connor asked dazedly.

"No, it's Thalia."

"I have a pony named Thalia? IMPOSSIBLE! YOU LIAR!"

"STOP!" Hestia angrily yelled, ceasing all actions. "You are all acting like little children,"

"HE/SHE STARTED IT!" Everyone yelled at once.

"Oh, have some fun Auntie H." Apollo beamed, lightly throwing a wet cheerio, which ended up sticking onto Hestia's forehead.

Nico couldn't help but fall on the floor laughing, and soon enough, everyone was either smiling or chuckling. Laughing, after all, is very infectious.

After awhile, Zeus snapped his fingers, and the whole kitchen became sparkly clean once again. "We should get back to reading,"

Everyone sighed contently, and walked back to the throne room, except for Hestia.

"I'll go get Aphrodite," She said with a smile.

"I'll read next," said Ares

**"We Hitch a Ride with Dead Confederate,"** Ares read.

"They better be nice Confederates," Poseidon muttered.

"Doubt it!" sang Apollo.

Clarisse grinned maniacally at the chapter name.

**"Thermos!" I screamed as we hurtled toward the water.**

"I blame Percy's insaneness on Thalia! I told you he would lose all his brain cells from your zapping!" Nico exclaimed, jumping around.

"Yeah, okay, blame me for his craziness," Thalia rolled her eyes playfully. "Even though I wasn't even there yet. That makes perfect sense." Thalia laughed along with Annabeth.

"Hey! I am not crazy!" Percy protested.

"Does that mean your just plain dumb?" Athena asked.

"He's not dumb!" Poseidon huffed.

**"What?" Annabeth must've thought I'd lost my mind.**

**She was holding on to the boat straps for dear life, her hair flying straight up like a torch.**

Annabeth frowned as she subconsciously flattened her hair.

"That's a sight I want to see," Nico grinned.

"You'll never see it!" Annabeth dramatically yelled as she put her hoodie on and hid her hair.

**But Tyson understood. **

"Wow, Tyson understood something that Annabeth didn't?" Travis said, causing Annabeth to scowl and whack him on the head.

**"Shut up will you?"**

"Anything for you, Annie!" Travis winked.

"I thought you were in love with Katie," Nico shook his head, while Demeter narrowed her eyes.

"No, I… I uh… Wait, what? Huh…?"

Everyone laughed as Travis' confused face.

**He managed to open my duffel bag and take out Hermes's magical thermos without losing his grip on it or the boat.**

**Arrows and javelins whistled past us.**

Poseidon rapidly tapped his feet nervously while Athena glared at him.

**I grabbed the thermos and hoped I was doing the right thing. "Hang on!"**

**"I am hanging on!" Annabeth yelled.**

**"Tighter!"**

**I hooked my feet under the boat's inflatable bench, and as Tyson grabbed Annabeth and me by the backs of our shirts, I gave the thermos cap a quarter turn.**

**Instantly, a white sheet of wind jetted out of the thermos and propelled us sideways, turning our downward plummet into a forty-five-degree crash landing.**

**The wind seemed to laugh as it shot from the thermos, like it was glad to be free.**

"That sounds a smidge creepy…" Hermes said, but he was grinning.

"You know what's creepy? Being chased by pink pandas and Apollo in a hula skirt," Nico shuddered.

"Hey!" Apollo looked offended, as everyone laughed.

"Just merely speaking the cold, hard truth," Nico said.

**As we hit the ocean,**

"Ocean abuse," Nico sang.

"Nico, are you okay?" Percy asked slowly, worried about him.

"Good, never better! I feel so awesome right now!"

**we bumped once, twice, skipping like a stone, **

**then we were whizzing along like a speed boat, salt spray in our faces and nothing but sea ahead.**

**I heard a wail of outrage from the ship behind us, but we were already out of weapon range. **

Poseidon grinned and relaxed.

**The Princess Andromeda faded to the size of a white toy boat in the distance, and then it was gone.**

"Yes, it's gone. You no longer have to hold onto Apollo's hand in fear," Dionysus said, causing a few snickers.

"What happened to your catalogue?" Percy asked innocently. "It was so quiet without your blabbering."

"No it wasn't," Thalia said. "Nico kept interrupting everything,"

"But what do you say to takin' chances? What do you say to jumpin' off the edge? Never knowin' if there's solid ground below Or a hand to hold or hell to pay!" Nico sang out of the blue.

"What are you doing!" Hera frowned.

"I'm singing my feelings out!"

"So you're singing about jumping off a cliff, wondering if you'll live or die and go to your dad?" Travis asked.

Nico frowned. "No! You don't know the true meaning!"

"Isn't that from Celine Dion?"

"No, it's from your butt!" Nico fell on the ground laughing.

Connor looked at him curiously. "Would you be happy if your butt could sing?"

"YES! THAT'D BE SO AWESOME!"

"There is something wrong with this kid," Ares said.

"Hold up!" Zeus boomed. "First of all, we're getting off task here, and second of all, singing butts would just be awkward."

All the goddesses rolled their eyes.

"This is why I think men are idiots," Artemis stated as Hera agreed.

"Start reading Ares," Poseidon demanded.

"You can't tell me what to do," Ares muttered, but began anyways.

**As we raced over the sea, Annabeth and I tried to send an Iris-message to Chiron. We figured it was important we let somebody know what Luke was doing, and we didn't know who else to trust.**

Athena nodded in approval.

**The wind from the thermos stirred up a nice sea spray that made a rainbow in the sunlight—perfect for an Iris-message—but our connection was still poor. When Annabeth threw a gold drachma into the mist and prayed for the rainbow goddess to show us Chiron, his face appeared all right, but there was some kind of weird strobe light flashing in the background and rock music blaring, like he was at a dance club.**

"Chiron at a party?" Athena looked astonished.

Poseidon grinned. "Well, he has a life unlike someone I know."

Athena glared. "Hey! I have a life too."

"I didn't say you didn't have one, I was just implying it," Poseidon said, making Athena huff in annoyance.

**We told him about sneaking away from camp, and Luke and the Princess Andromeda and the golden box for Kronos's remains, but between the noise on his end and the rushing wind and water on our end, I'm not sure how much he heard.**

**"Percy," Chiron yelled, "you have to watch out for—"**

"Hippos! You have to watch out for those vicious blue hippos!" Nico screamed.

"Blue hippos don't even exist!" Percy said exasperatedly, massaging his temples.

**His voice was drowned out by loud shouting behind him—a bunch of voices whooping it up like Comanche warriors.**

**"What?" I yelled.**

**"Curse my relatives!" Chiron ducked as a plate flew over his head and shattered somewhere out of sight.**

"Chiron, it's not good to curse your relatives, they're all you've got," Hera scolded the book.

"Great, you're talking to a book. Totally normal," Artemis said.

**"Annabeth, you shouldn't have let Percy leave camp!**

"Yes, blame everything on me," Annabeth huffed.

"Well, you did promise to protect him," Demeter reminded her, causing Athena to cross her arms irritatedly.

**But if you do get the Fleece—"**

**"Yeah, baby!" somebody behind Chiron yelled. "Woo-hoooooo!"**

"OH YEAH CHIRON! PARTY IN THE HOUSE!" Apollo cheered.

**The music got cranked up, subwoofers so loud it made our boat vibrate.**

**"—Miami," Chiron was yelling. "I'll try to keep watch—"**

**Our misty screen smashed apart like someone on the other side had thrown a bottle at it, and Chiron was gone.**

**An hour later we spotted land—a long stretch of beach lined with high-rise hotels. The water became crowded with fishing boats and tankers. A coast guard cruiser passed on our starboard side, then turned like it wanted a second look. I guess it isn't every day they see a yellow lifeboat with no engine going a hundred knots an hour, manned by three kids.**

"I guess mortals don't see that a lot," Hephaestus looked amused.

**"That's Virginia Beach!" Annabeth said as we approached the shoreline. "Oh my gods, how did the Princess Andromeda travel so far overnight? That's like—"**

**"Five hundred and thirty nautical miles," I said.**

"Oh look, Percy's not useless after all," Thalia joked.

"When am I ever useless," Percy smirked.

"During a math test," Connor and Travis said at the same time.

**She stared at me. "How did you know that?"**

"Comes with being the son of the totally awesome sea god," Poseidon grinned smugly and giving Percy a high-five as both Athena and Annabeth rolled their eyes.

**"I—I'm not sure."**

**Annabeth thought for a moment. "Percy, what's our position?"**

**"36 degrees, 44 minutes north, 76 degrees, 2 minutes west," I said immediately. Then I shook my head. "Whoa. How did I know that?"**

**"Because of your dad," Annabeth guessed. "When you're at sea, you have perfect bearings. That is so cool."**

"Not as cool as conjuring up lightning," Thalia muttered.

**"Water is so much better," Percy said.**

**"Are you kidding me? Skeletons can like totally go 'pew pew' and scare the pants out of mortals!" Nico exclaimed.**

"You're just like your fathers," Demeter rolled her eyes.

"So Hades always rolls on the ground pretending to shoot stuff?" Travis eyed Nico, who was doing exactly that.

"No, the arguing part," Athena said, as Hades frowned.

**I wasn't sure about that. I didn't want to be a human GPS unit. **

**But before I could say anything, Tyson tapped my shoulder. "Other boat is coming."**

**I looked back. The coast guard vessel was definitely on our tail now. Its lights were flashing and it was gaining speed.**

**"We can't let them catch us," I said. "They'll ask too many questions."**

**"Keep going into Chesapeake Bay," Annabeth said. "I know a place we can hide."**

**"Chesapeake Bay…" Thalia narrowed her eyes as Annabeth looked anywhere but at her.**

**I didn't ask what she meant, or how she knew the area so well. I risked loosening the thermos cap a little more, and a fresh burst of wind sent us rocketing around the northern tip of Virginia Beach into Chesapeake Bay. The coast guard boat fell farther and farther behind. We didn't slow down until the shores of the bay narrowed on either side, and I realized we'd entered the mouth of a river.**

**I could feel the change from salt water to fresh water. Suddenly I was tired and frazzled, like I was coming down off a sugar rush. **

"SUGAR! Connor, can I have more sugar, please? Oh pretty please?" Nico begged.

Everyone whipped their heads to Connor questionably. "You gave him sugar?"

"Uh… Noo," Travis said weakly.

"No wonder he's been acting all crazy!" Percy said.

Thalia nodded her head. "I thought some alien came down to earth and brainwashed him because he didn't mention anything death-related this whole chapter,"

"I just thought someone replaced Nico with Apollo's kid or something," Hades stared at his son, who was on the ground poking a purple blob experimentally. ("Doesn't it look like George Clooney?" "No, it looks like a puddle.")

"It wasn't our fault though," The Stoll brothers said at once.

"Oh really," Athena said sarcastically.

"All we did was dare him to eat all the sugar in the cabinet," Connor said.

"Hmm, sugar usually doesn't make you this hyper," Athena observed, while in the corner, Dionysus couldn't help but snicker.

"No wonder I couldn't find any for the plain cereal!" Apollo huffed as Demeter glared.

"Thanks, thanks a lot son of Hermes," Hera frowned and glanced accusingly at Hermes. "We're going to have to deal with a very hyper Nico for the rest of the day!"

"I want sugar," Nico pouted.

Everyone ignored him as Ares read on.

**I didn't know where I was anymore, or which way to steer the boat. It was a good thing Annabeth was directing me.**

**"There," she said. "Past that sandbar."**

Apollo snorted. "Doesn't that sound funny? Sandbar…"

"Really Apollo?" Artemis raised her eyebrows.

"It does sound funny," Nico smiled.

**We veered into a swampy area choked with marsh grass. I beached the lifeboat at the foot of a giant cypress.**

**Vine-covered trees loomed above us. Insects chirred in the woods. The air was muggy and hot, and steam curled off the river. Basically, it wasn't Manhattan, and I didn't like it.**

"Way to experience new things, Perce. Just because it isn't Manhattan, you immediately dislike it?" Thalia said.

"Basically," Percy smirked smugly.

**"Come on," Annabeth said. "It's just down the bank."**

**"What is?" I asked.**

**"Just follow." She grabbed a duffel bag. "And we'd better cover the boat. We don't want to draw attention."**

**After burying the lifeboat with branches, Tyson and I followed Annabeth along the shore, our feet sinking in red mud. A snake slithered past my shoe and disappeared into the grass.**

**"Not a good place," Tyson said. He swatted the mosquitoes that were forming a buffet line on his arm.**

Aphrodite shuddered. "Disgusting!"

**After another few minutes, Annabeth said, "Here."**

**All I saw was a patch of brambles. Then Annabeth moved aside a woven circle of branches, like a door, and I realized I was looking into a camouflaged shelter.**

"You did use it," Thalia muttered.

**"Sorry, but we needed somewhere to stay," Annabeth looked guilty.**

**The inside was big enough for three, **

"I wonder why," Thalia rolled her eyes.

"I didn't know it was yours before," Percy said.

**even with Tyson being the third. The walls were woven from plant material, like a Native American hut, but they looked pretty water proof. Stacked in the corner was everything you could want for a campout—sleeping bags, blankets, an ice chest, and a kerosene lamp. There were demigod provisions, too— bronze javelin tips, a quiver full of arrows, an extra sword, and a box of ambrosia. The place smelled musty, like it had been vacant for a long time.**

Thalia couldn't help but smile sadly at the old times.

**"A half-blood hideout." I looked at Annabeth in awe. "You made this place?"**

**"Thalia and I," she said quietly. "And Luke."**

**That shouldn't have bothered me. I mean, I knew Thalia and Luke had taken care of Annabeth when she was little.**

**I knew the three of them had been runaways together, hiding from monsters, surviving on their own before Grover found them and tried to get them to Half-Blood Hill. But when ever Annabeth talked about the time she'd spent with them, I kind of felt ... I don't know. Uncomfortable?**

**No. That's not the word. The word was jealous.**

A lot of people started laughing, "and if Nico was in his right state of mind, he'd probably be glaring", thought Percy..

"Percy is Jealous, hahaha–" A huge wave came out of nowhere and tackled Nico to the ground, leaving him spluttering for air.

"I wonder where that came from," Percy said innocently, making many people laugh.

**"So ..." I said. "You don't think Luke will look for us here?"**

**She shook her head. "We made a dozen safe houses like this. I doubt Luke even remembers where they are. Or cares."**

**She threw herself down on the blankets and started going through her duffel bag. Her body language made it pretty clear she didn't want to talk.**

**"Um, Tyson?" I said. "Would you mind scouting around outside? Like, look for a wilderness convenience store or something?"**

Everyone burst into laughter.

Athena snorted. "Yes, like there would so be a convenience store in the middle of nowhere."

"Lady Athena, you never know what could happen," Percy said in a serious tone, making Annabeth laugh crazily.

**"Convenience store?"**

**"Yeah, for snacks. Powdered donuts or something. Just don't go too far."**

**"Powdered donuts," Tyson said earnestly. "I will look for powdered donuts in the wilderness." He headed outside and started calling, "Here, donuts!"**

"Yup, hopefully the donuts will hear and come running into his arms!" Apollo joked.

"If that actually happened, the world would be a much better place," Travis noted.

"Are you serious? The world would be a much better place if mortals stopped polluting so much, not running donuts!" Annabeth rolled her eyes.

Connor shrugged. "This is Travis saying it, what do you expect?"

**Once he was gone, I sat down across from Annabeth. "Hey, I'm sorry about, you know, seeing Luke."**

**"It's not your fault." She unsheathed her knife and started cleaning the blade with a rag.**

**"He let us go too easily," I said.**

Athena nodded. "It seems so,"

**I hoped I'd been imagining it, but Annabeth nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. What we overheard him say about a gamble, and 'they'll take the bait'... I think he was talking about us."**

**"The Fleece is the bait? Or Grover?"**

"I don't think Grover would be too happy if he was bait," Travis said.

"I don't think anyone would," Thalia raised her eyebrows.

"Except for Percy!" Nico perked up as everyone turned to Percy questionably.

"Well, I would rather have it me than anyone else," Percy said.

"Did I ever mention that your fatal flaw is loyalty?" Athena asked.

Percy smirked. "You might have once or twice,"

**She studied the edge of her knife. "I don't know, Percy. Maybe he wants the Fleece for himself. Maybe he's hoping we'll do the hard work and then he can steal it from us. I just can't believe he would poison the tree."**

Hermes gloomily stared at the floor.

**"What did he mean," I asked, "that Thalia would've been on his side?"**

**"He's wrong."**

**"You don't sound sure."**

**Annabeth glared at me, and I started to wish I hadn't asked her about this while she was holding a knife.**

"Knife or not, she can own your ass," Clarisse said.

**"Percy, you know who you remind me of most? Thalia. You guys are so much alike it's scary.**

"Did you just compare me to Kelp Head?" Thalia stuck out her tongue.

"Uh yes, she did. You should be honoured," Percy smirked.

"Okay, lets face it, you guys are similar," Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"No we aren't…" Percy and Thalia said at the same time while Poseidon said "Percy's more awesome."

"What are you talking about," Zeus frowned as everyone else groaned. "Thalia is better!"

"We are not going into the argument again!" Hera sighed.

"Just wait 'till you hear about their battle in Capture the Flag," Connor said with a shiver. Travis nodded eagerly.

**I mean, either you would've been best friends or you would've strangled each other."**

"I'm still wondering which option represents us," Thalia said.

"Let's go with 'best friends.'"

**"Thalia got angry with her dad sometimes. So do you. Would you turn against Olympus because of that?"**

**I stared at the quiver of arrows in the corner. "No."**

"You better not," Zeus grumbled moodily.

**"Okay, then. Neither would she. Luke's wrong." Annabeth stuck her knife blade into the dirt.**

**I wanted to ask her about the prophecy Luke had mentioned and what it had to do with my sixteenth birth day. But I figured she wouldn't tell me. Chiron had made it pretty clear that I wasn't allowed to hear it until the gods decided otherwise.**

**"So what did Luke mean about Cyclopes?" I asked. "He said you of all people—"**

"Thanks for bring it up, Kelp Head," Thalia rolled her eyes.

"No problem, Pinecone Face," Percy said, making Thalia grimace.

**"I know what he said. He ... he was talking about the real reason Thalia died."**

Thalia flinched while Zeus let out a deep breath.

"Ahhgg," Nico curiously looked cross-eyed at his tongue.

"Way to ruin the mood, kid," Ares muttered.

"What are you even doing," Hera looked disgusted.

Nico looked up excitedly. "I can see my tongue! It's pink."

"Yay, good for you," Hephaestus clapped sarcastically. "Now start reading Ares,"

**I waited, not sure what to say.**

**Annabeth drew a shaky breath. "You can never trust a Cyclops, Percy.**

"Except for Tyson," Percy said quietly, pouting.

**Six years ago, on the night Grover was leading us to Half-Blood Hill—"**

**She was interrupted when the door of the hut creaked open. Tyson crawled in.**

**"Powdered donuts!" he said proudly, holding up a pastry box.**

"What… How… Huh..?" Athena was flabbergasted and everyone began cracking up at the look on her face.

"Told you not everything is as it seems," Percy grinned at Athena's flushed cheeks.

"Shut up, Sea Spawn," Athena snapped.

"I do have a name you know," Percy informed her, but quickly added "But that name's fine too," at Athena's angry look.

Some people snickered at Percy's slightly nervous fidgets and Athena's irritated expression.

**Annabeth stared at him. "Where did you get that? We're in the middle of the wilderness. There's nothing around for—"**

**"Fifty feet," Tyson said. "Monster Donut shop—just over the hill!"**

"A Donut shop over the hill?" Travis frowned. "I want donuts!"

"Stop whining you ungrateful brat," Dionysus rolled his eyes.

"Says the brat himself," Hermes retorted.

Dionysus glared, than snapped his fingers and vines began to sprout around Hermes' ankles.

"Help! It's devouring me!" Hermes yelled dramatically.

"No!" Apollo cried.

"Lord Hermes! You can't leave me now; you're too young to go!" Nico screamed. "NOOO!"

"Our family is so dramatic," Hephaestus muttered.

"I know, isn't it so great? It's like a reality show all on its own!" Poseidon called from the other side of the room, summoning popcorn, which Ares ended up stealing.

"Dionysus!" Zeus thundered. "Let go of him right now!"

"Fine," Dionysus grumbled, than tripped Hermes before letting go.

"Well… That was weird," Hades stated as Hestia shook her head at her family.

**"This is bad," Annabeth muttered.**

**We were crouching behind a tree, staring at the donut shop in the middle of the woods. **

"That makes you sound very paranoid," Demeter noted.

**It looked brand new, with brightly lit windows, a parking area, and a little road leading off into the forest, but there was nothing else around, and no cars parked in the lot. We could see one employee reading a magazine behind the cash register. That was it. On the store's marquis, in huge black letters that even I could read, it said:**

**MONSTER DONUT**

**A cartoon ogre was taking a bite out of the O in MONSTER. The place smelled good, like fresh-baked chocolate donuts.**

All the men sighed contently as the women rolled their eyes.

**"This shouldn't be here," Annabeth whispered. "It's wrong."**

**"What?" I asked. "It's a donut shop."**

"Yeah, but it's a donut shop in the middle of nowhere. How could it not be wrong?" Artemis rolled her eyes.

**"Shhh!"**

**"Why are we whispering? Tyson went in and bought a dozen. Nothing happened to him."**

**"He's a monster."**

**"Aw, c'mon, Annabeth. Monster Donut doesn't mean monsters! **

"Yes it does,"

It's a chain. We've got them in New York."

**"A chain," she agreed. "And don't you think it's strange that one appeared immediately after you told Tyson to get donuts? Right here in the middle of the woods?"**

**I thought about it. It did seem a little weird, but, I mean, donut shops weren't real high on my list of sinister forces.**

"It should be," Annabeth and Athena said at the same time.

"Yeah, you never know when donut shops are plotting to take over the world," Clarisse said.

"I agree," Apollo said solemnly, not catching the sarcasm.

**"It could be a nest," Annabeth explained.**

**Tyson whimpered. I doubt he understood what Annabeth was saying any better than I did, but her tone was making him nervous.**

"You shouldn't peg Tyson as really clueless, you're just underestimating him," Thalia said.

"Wow," Percy said astonished. "You're defending Tyson!"

Thalia sighed exasperatedly. "You didn't even listen to what I said, did you?"

"Nope,"

**He'd plowed through half a dozen donuts from his box and was getting powdered sugar all over his face.**

**"A nest for what?" I asked.**

**"Haven't you ever wondered how franchise stores pop up so fast?" **

"No," The Stolls said in unison. "All we care is 'bout the food,"

"Pigs," Artemis said disgustedly.

**she asked. "One day there's nothing and then the next day—boom, there's a new burger place or a coffee shop or whatever? First a single store, then two, then four— exact replicas spreading across the country?"**

**"Um, no. Never thought about it."**

**"Percy, some of the chains multiply so fast because all their locations are magically linked to the life force of a monster. Some children of Hermes figured out how to do it back in the 1950s. **

"COOL!" (I think you know who said it.)

**They breed—"**

**She froze.**

Athena began panicking.

**"What?" I demanded. "They breed what?"**

**"No—sudden—moves," Annabeth said, like her life depended on it. **

"It probably did," Nico chirped.

**"Very slowly, turn around."**

**Then I heard it: a scraping noise, like something large dragging its belly through the leaves.**

**I turned and saw a rhino-size thing moving through the shadows of the trees. It was hissing, its front half writhing in all different directions. I couldn't understand what I was seeing at first. Then I realized the thing had multiple necks**

Poseidon and Athena's eyes widened in realization.

**—at least seven, each topped with a hissing reptilian head.**

"A hydra… No, how'd you get out alive," Poseidon stammered.

Percy said nothing, but sent a furtive glance to Clarisse.

**Its skin was leathery, and under each neck it wore a plastic bib that read: I'm A MONSTER DONUT KID!**

Nico burst out laughing, oblivious to the tension in the room due to his hyper state. "That's hilarious!"

**I took out my ballpoint pen, but Annabeth locked eyes with me—a silent warning. Not yet.**

**I understood. A lot of monsters have terrible eyesight. It was possible the Hydra might pass us by. But if I uncapped my sword now, the bronze glow would certainly get its attention.**

Athena bit her lip. "Try not to get noticed, good idea,"

**We waited.**

**The Hydra was only a few feet away. It seemed to be sniffing the ground and the trees like it was hunting for something. Then I noticed that two of the heads were rip ping apart a piece of yellow canvas—one of our duffel bags. The thing had already been to our campsite. It was following our scent.**

"Di Immortales," Thalia quietly swore, as Poseidon nervously wiped his sweaty palms.

**My heart pounded. I'd seen a stuffed Hydra-head trophy at camp before, but that did nothing to prepare me for the real thing. Each head was diamond-shaped, like a rattlesnake's,**

**but the mouths were lined with jagged rows of sharklike teeth.**

"Ooh, that would really hurt," Connor commented.

"No duh, Sherlock," Clarisse said.

**Tyson was trembling. He stepped back and accidentally snapped a twig. Immediately, all seven heads turned toward us and hissed.**

"Not going to die, not going to die," Poseidon chanted. "Not going to die…."

"Shut up," Athena snapped, but she was nervous too.

**"Scatter!" Annabeth yelled. She dove to the right.**

**I rolled to the left. One of the Hydra heads spat an arc of green liquid that shot past my shoulder and splashed against an elm. The trunk smoked and began to disintegrate. The whole tree toppled straight toward Tyson, who still hadn't moved, petrified by the monster that was now right in front of him.**

**"Tyson!" I tackled him with all my might, knocking him aside just as the Hydra lunged and the tree crashed on top of two of its heads.**

**The Hydra stumbled backward, yanking its heads free then wailing in outrage at the fallen tree. All seven heads shot acid, and the elm melted into a steaming pool of muck.**

**"Move!" I told Tyson. I ran to one side and uncapped Riptide,**

"Yay, it's time to rip some tides!" Nico yelled, referring to Percy's sword name.

**hoping to draw the monster's attention. It worked.**

"Per-cy," Poseidon whined like a 5 year old.

Percy smiled sheepishly. "Sorry,"

**The sight of celestial bronze is hateful to most monsters. As soon as my glowing blade appeared, the Hydra whipped toward it with all its heads, hissing and baring its teeth.**

**The good news: Tyson was momentarily out of danger. The bad news: I was about to be melted into a puddle of goo.**

**One of the heads snapped at me experimentally. Without thinking, I swung my sword.**

**"No!" Annabeth yelled.**

**Too late. I sliced the Hydra's head clean off. It rolled away into the grass, leaving a flailing stump, which immediately stopped bleeding and began to swell like a balloon.**

"Ew, as much as I like balloons, that would probably be a disgusting sight," Aphrodite commented.

**In a matter of seconds the wounded neck split into two necks, each of which grew a full-size head. Now I was looking at an eight-headed Hydra.**

"You… You… SEA SPAWN!" Athena shrieked.

Yeah, like that's such a horrible insult, Percy thought.

"BE QUIET OWL HEAD!" Poseidon yelled.

"Barnacle Brain," Athena quietly huffed.

**"Percy!" Annabeth scolded. "You just opened another Monster Donut shop somewhere!"**

"More donuts!" the Stoll brothers chorused.

"You can't buy them anyways," Hestia said. "Unless you want to be eaten,"

"Oh, yeah… Bad Percy!"

Percy pouted.

**I dodged a spray of acid. "I'm about to die and you're worried about that? **

"Yes," Everyone –except Poseidon– chorused.

**How do we kill it?"**

**"Fire!" Annabeth said. "We have to have fire!"**

**As soon as she said that, I remembered the story. The Hydra's heads would only stop multiplying if we burned the stumps before they regrew. That's what Heracles had done, anyway. But we had no fire.**

**I backed up toward river. The Hydra followed.**

**Annabeth moved in on my left and tried to distract one of the heads, parrying its teeth with her knife, but another head swung sideways like a club and knocked her into the muck.**

**"No hitting my friends!" Tyson charged in, putting himself between the Hydra and Annabeth. **

**As Annabeth got to her feet, Tyson started smashing at the monster heads with his fists so fast it reminded me of the whack-a-mole game at the arcade.**

Hermes snorted. "Now that's just awesome!"

**But even Tyson couldn't fend off the Hydra forever.**

**We kept inching backward, dodging acid splashes and deflecting snapping heads without cutting them off, but I knew we were only postponing our deaths. Eventually, we would make a mistake and the thing would kill us.**

"Bad thoughts, stop being so pessimistic," Apollo scolded.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'll try to control my depressing thoughts," Percy rolled his eyes.

**Then I heard a strange sound—a chug-chug-chug that at first I thought was my heartbeat. It was so powerful it made the riverbank shake.**

**"What's that noise?" Annabeth shouted, keeping her eyes on the Hydra.**

**"Steam engine," Tyson said.**

"OH YEAH!" Clarisse cheered, though a lot of people were wondering why.

**"What?" I ducked as the Hydra spat acid over my head.**

**Then from the river behind us, a familiar female voice shouted: "There! Prepare the thirty-two-pounder!"**

**I didn't dare look away from the Hydra, but if that was who I thought it was behind us, I figured we now had enemies on two fronts.**

Realization dawned on Athena's face. "Oh."

"WHAT WHAT?" Poseidon yelled worriedly.

Athena rolled her eyes but whispered who she thought it was, to Poseidon, so that no one else could hear.

"Tell us too!" Apollo whined childishly.

Athena shook her head, refusing.

"Why'd you tell Poseidon then?" Hephaestus muttered.

"Crushing on Poseidon are you?" Aphrodite teased as Percy and Annabeth's jaw dropped.

"WHAT!" Athena looked absolutely furious while Poseidon looked half amused and half appalled. "How dare you!" She sent a few owls in Aphrodite's direction.

"OW OW, MY HAIR, NO!" Aphrodite cried, as everyone couldn't help but snicker at the scene.

**A gravelly male voice said, "They're too close, m'lady!"**

**"Damn the heroes!" the girl said. **

"Exactly! Damn the heroes," Ares smirked, as people turned to glare at him.

"That's kind of mean," Percy said.

"I know, she should learn some manners," Poseidon gave a knowing look, while Clarisse silently huffed.

**"Full steam ahead!"**

**"Aye, m'lady."**

**"Fire at will, Captain!"**

**Annabeth understood what was happening a split second before I did. She yelled, "Hit the dirt!" and we dove for the ground as an earth-shattering BOOM **

"BOOM!" Nico laughed maniacally while jumping up and down in excitement.

"I'm starting to like this kid," Ares grinned.

**echoed from the river. There was a flash of light, a column of smoke, and the Hydra exploded right in front of us, showering us with nasty green slime that vaporized as soon as it hit, the way monster guts tend to do.**

"EWWWW!" Aphrodite screamed horrified. "I feel so horrible for you demigods, having to go through that agony,"

"I know, it was torture," Connor feigned pain and hurt.

"Aww," Aphrodite ran over and hugged Connor, who was grinning widely behind her back and mouthing 'Life is easy,'

When she walked back, she everyone began laughing because on Connor's back was a sign that said 'I'm foolish because I think I can trick the goddess of love.'

"What's so funny?" Connor asked.

No one bothered to tell him because they thought it was really funny.

**"Gross!" screamed Annabeth.**

**"Steamship!" yelled Tyson.**

**I stood, coughing from the cloud of gunpowder smoke that was rolling across the banks.**

**Chugging toward us down the river was the strangest ship I'd ever seen. It rode low in the water like a submarine, its deck plated with iron. In the middle was a trapezoid-shaped casemate with slats on each side for cannons.**

Travis perked up. "Cannons, cool!"

**A flag waved from the top—a wild boar and spear on a bloodred field. **

"Ares," everyone said.

**Lining the deck were zombies in gray uniforms— dead soldiers with shimmering faces that only partially covered their skulls, like the ghouls I'd seen in the Underworld guarding Hades's palace.**

"Mhmm Ghosts," Nico smiled. "So fun,"

**The ship was an ironclad. A Civil War battle cruiser. I could just make out the name along the prow in moss-covered letters: CSS Birmingham.**

**And standing next to the smoking cannon that had almost killed us, wearing full Greek battle armor, was Clarisse.**

"OH YEAH!" Ares yelled loudly.

**"Losers," she sneered. "But I suppose I have to rescue you. Come aboard."**

"How welcoming," Hermes said sarcastically.

"I know right?" Percy scoffed. "We almost get killed, and this is how we get greeted."

"Well, I could have just left you behind instead," Clarisse smirked.

"Who wants to read next?" Demeter asked, trying to change the subject.


	13. Chapter 13

**"Clarisse Blows Up Everything," **

"YEAH! GO CLARISSE!" Ares stood up and cheered, making Clarisse blush.

Connor and Travis both looked at her in a new light. "That's… awesome!"

"No, that's not awesome at all," Poseidon groaned.

"Dad, ya gotta relax," Percy grinned.

"Yeah, chill man, chill!" Nico said as everyone looked at him weirdly.

**"You are in so much trouble," Clarisse said.**

"What's new," Percy shrugged nonchalantly.

**We'd just finished a ship tour we didn't want, **

"What, how could you not want a tour?" Clarisse asked.

"Yeah! Tours are like… tours. And… uh…"

"Nico, don't hurt yourself," Thalia snickered.

Nico sighed. "The truth… is that I don't like tours! There, I got it out,"

"Breathe deeply, its okay, you don't need to like them," Percy said slowly.

**through dark rooms overcrowded with dead sailors. We'd seen the coal bunker, the boilers and engine, which huffed and groaned like it would explode any minute.**

"I guess I should have taken that as a warning and jumped off the ship," Percy grinned. Everyone looked confused except for Annabeth and Clarisse.

"Would have saved us a Hades lot of trouble," Annabeth said as Hades glared.

Clarisse smirked. "But than I wouldn't have gotten to blow everything up!"

Poseidon gulped in fear.

**We'd seen the pilothouse and the powder magazine and gunnery deck **

"Ah, the best part!" Clarisse smirked.

**(Clarisse's favorite) with two Dahlgren smoothbore cannons on the port and starboard sides and a Brooke nine-inch rifled gun fore and aft—all specially refitted to fire celestial bronze cannon balls.**

**Everywhere we went, dead Confederate sailors stared at us, their ghostly bearded faces shimmering over their skulls. **

Aphrodite shivered. "Sounds… gross,"

**They approved of Annabeth because she told them she was from Virginia. **

"Or maybe they just liked me better than you," Annabeth grinned.

"Nah, they were just being mean,"

**They were interested in me, too, because my name was Jackson—like the Southern general—but then I ruined it by telling them I was from New York. **

**They all hissed and muttered curses about Yankees.**

"Well, someone doesn't like Yankees," Apollo said.

"No duh," Artemis rolled her eyes.

**Tyson was terrified of them. **

Demeter snorted. "Sorry, it's kind of funny to think that a Cyclopes is scared of the dead,"

Suddenly, someone tapped Demeter on the shoulder, and she turned around to see a dead skeleton. Screams rang out throughout Olympus, as everyone burst out laughing.

"HADES!"

"Don't look at me," Hades grinned. All heads turned to the snickering kid by the side.

"Guilty as charged," Nico fell on the floor laughing. "Did you see the look on her face?"

Demeter fumed, as she stalked over to Nico and started shaking him vigorously. "THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOU AND YOUR FATHER!"

"Don't break him!" Hephaestus called. "I don't fix mortals,"

"Heeeyy! Help me from this psycho lady!" Nico whimpered, still being shaken.

"Guys are so amusing!" Aphrodite squealed.

"Yeah, its fun to watch them suffer," Artemis agreed.

Five minutes later, it took 2 Olympians and 2 demigods to stop Demeter. Everyone else, including Thalia was laughing in amusement.

"Th-thanks a lot guys," Nico said sarcastically, shuffling back to his seat while warily looking at a still furious Demeter.

"Now that we're done with that… ehem, distraction," Zeus disguised his chuckle as a cough. "Let's continue on with the story,"

**All through the tour, he insisted Annabeth hold his hand, which she didn't look too thrilled about.**

"Couldn't blame her," Thalia chewed her lip.

"Aw, but that's cute," Aphrodite squealed.

**Finally, we were escorted to dinner. The CSS Birmingham captain's quarters were about the size of a walk-in closet, but still much bigger than any other room on board. The table was set with white linen and china. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches,**

"Mhmm, Tyson would like that,"

**potato chips, and Dr Peppers were served by skeletal crewmen. I didn't want to eat anything served by ghosts, but my hunger overruled my fear.**

Artemis rolled her eyes. "Seriously? What if the food was contaminated or something,"

"That'd be fine with me," Athena said quietly, smiling to herself.

**"Tantalus expelled you for eternity," Clarisse told us smugly. "Mr. D said if any of you show your face at camp again, he'll turn you into squirrels and run you over with his SUV."**

A lot of people had to stifle their laughs from the silly thought.

"Hm… that's a good idea! I love my future self," Dionysus grinned.

Poseidon's eye twitched. He made some gestures with his hand, and a wave of water curled up around Dionysus' shoulder, than it froze.

"Ha, Mr. D looks like a popsicle!" Apollo yelled, making everyone laugh. Dionysus was still struggling.

Nico looked up, and his eyes widened. "POPSICLE!" he yelled, than ran up and tried to lick the ice, only to get his tongue stuck. "Elp Elp! Ehhh…"

"Get this brat off of me!" Dionysus tried to move, but it was futile.

Percy tried to pry Nico off, but he screamed in protest.

"Percy, be careful! You might accidently rip his tongue off," Annabeth said, making Nico squirm more.

"Aw, but then he'd have a souvenir for this good memory!" Perce grinned. Nico yelled, trying to whack Percy away.

"Just kidding, sheesh,"

"Poseidon, stop this madness," Zeus demanded.

Connor burst out laughing. "Dionysus and madness… and Poseidon… get it? Oh whatever," He sighed dejectedly and sat back down.

"Aw, but Dionysus would make a very nice grape popsicle," Poseidon mumbled, waving his hand to make all the ice melt.

"Ow… Its okay my little tongue, your okay now," Nico walked back to his seat pouting.

Travis mouthed 'weirdo' and everyone looked at Nico strangely.

Dionysus walked back to his throne shivering, glaring at Poseidon on the way. Poseidon just grinned cheekily back.

**"Did they give you this ship?" I asked.**

**"'Course not. My father did."**

Ares perked up. "So that's why the ship is so cool, it's cause I gave it!"

"Yup!" Clarisse agreed.

"What a big ego," Artemis muttered.

**"Ares?"**

**Clarisse sneered. "You think your daddy is the only one with sea power? The spirits on the losing side of every war owe a tribute to Ares. **

"Yeah, and that's a whole lot of spirits babe!" Ares cheered.

"Uh huh, all 14 of them," Poseidon mocked.

"Hey hey hey, no need to be jealous of my peeps,"

Percy and Poseidon rolled their eyes. Who says peeps these days?

**That's their curse for being defeated. I prayed to my father for a naval transport and here it is. These guys will do anything I tell them. **

"Anything?" Connor and Travis suddenly had identical mischievous grins. "Nico, can we pretty please borrow some skeletons?"

"Maybe, if you give me an apple," Nico grinned.

"HE'S KIDDING!" Everyone yelled.

"You know him, a little high on sugar, don't listen to him," Percy said. "Seriously, don't!"

"Whatever," Connor said, but when no one was looking, they both winked at Nico and mouthed 'we'll deal with this later'.

**Won't you, Captain?"**

**The captain stood behind her looking stiff and angry. His glowing green eyes fixed me with a hungry stare. "If it means an end to this infernal war, ma'am, peace at last, we'll do anything. Destroy anyone."**

"How… uh… devoted," Hestia commented.

**Clarisse smiled. "Destroy anyone. I like that."**

"Of course you would,"

**Tyson gulped.**

**"Clarisse," Annabeth said, "Luke might be after the Fleece, too. We saw him. He's got the coordinates and he's heading south. He has a cruise ship full of monsters—"**

**"Good! I'll blow him out of the water." **

"That's the spirit!" Ares full out yelled.

"Dude, you have to like chill," Apollo said.

Artemis rolled her eyes at Apollo's choice of words, but said "I have to agree, you're going to make us all deaf,"

Everyone gasped. "You guys agreed on something!"

"Don't be too surprised," Artemis shook her head, smiling.

**"You don't understand," Annabeth said. "We have to combine forces. Let us help you—"**

**"No!" Clarisse pounded the table. "This is my quest, smart girl! **

"Wow, that's so insulting! You'll really make Annabeth cry to her mommy now," Travis said sarcastically.

Clarisse twitched. She got up, and punched Travis hard.

"OUCH!" Travis yelped.

"Isn't anyone going to help him?" Hermes asked.

The Olympians said "He deserved it!" while the demigods mumbled "I don't want to get hurt,"

**Finally I get to be the hero, and you two will not steal my chance."**

"Like we really needed to," Percy scoffed.

Before Clarisse could retort, Annabeth said "What he means, is that we didn't really want to,"

Clarisse nodded in approval.

"What are ya doing?" Percy whispered.

"Trying to save your butt from being kicked is what i'm trying to do, since your boyfriend can't, since he's hyped up on sugar at the moment" Annabeth rolled her eyes, indicating to the beaten up Travis. And Nico who was bouncing up and down on his seat.

**"Where are your cabin mates?" I asked. "You were allowed to take two friends with you, weren't you?"**

**"They didn't ... I let them stay behind. To protect the camp."**

**"You mean even the people in your own cabin wouldn't help you?"**

"What a shocker," Dionysus said, getting glares from Ares and Clarisse.

**"Shut up, Prissy! I don't need them! Or you!"**

**"Clarisse," I said, "Tantalus is using you. He doesn't care about the camp. He'd love to see it destroyed. He's setting you up to fail."**

"It seems like he's true," Athena said grimly, ignoring the fact that she agreed with Percy. "Tantalus is very deceiving."

Ares refused to believe it, while Clarisse huffed.

**"No! I don't care what the Oracle—" She stopped her self.**

"Oracle? What did the Oracle say?" Athena asked curiously. They ignored her.

**"What?" I said. "What did the Oracle tell you?"**

**"Nothing." Clarisse's ears turned pink. **

Athena raised her eyebrows.

"Liar liar, pants on fire!"

"Travis, SHUT UP!"

**"All you need to know is that I'm finishing this quest and you're not helping. On the other hand, I can't let you go ..."**

**"So we're prisoners?" Annabeth asked.**

"Prisoners of war, how exciting!" Nico grinned.

"Son of death," Hephaestus said, as Hades growled. "What are you talking about, jeez,"

"You can call me by my name, NEE-KO,"

"We know how to say your name–"

"Except Dionysus," Percy mumbled.

"–But we choose not to say it," Athena continued.

**"Guests. For now." Clarisse propped her feet up on the white linen tablecloth and opened another Dr Pepper. **

Apollo licked his lips.

**"Captain, take them below. Assign them hammocks on the berth deck. If they don't mind their manners, show them how we deal with enemy spies."**

Travis involuntarily shuddered. "I'd hate to find out,"

"Yeah, that's right," Clarisse smiled smugly, happy that she had this effect on people.

**The dream came as soon as I fell asleep.**

**Grover was sitting at his loom, desperately unraveling his wedding train, when the boulder door rolled aside and the Cyclops bellowed, "Aha!"**

"Busted," Connor and Travis said in unison.

"Not helping the obvious tension in the room," Annabeth couldn't help but chuckle.

**Grover yelped. "Dear! I didn't—you were so quiet!"**

"A Cyclopes being quiet. That is uncalled for,"

"Expect the unexpected," Athena beamed.

"Yeah yeah, nerd," Ares rolled his eyes.

Athena's eyes flashed dangerously. With a flick of her hand, a crowd of owls began pecking at Ares, who took out his sword and tried to hack at them. Let's just say, he got outsmarted by a bunch of owls.

**"Unraveling!" Polyphemus roared. "So that's the problem!"**

**"Oh, no. I—I wasn't—"**

**"Come!" Polyphemus grabbed Grover around the waist and half carried, half dragged him through the tunnels of the cave. Grover struggled to keep his high heels on his hooves. His veil kept tilting on his head, threatening to come off.**

"That's a very interesting image," Hades mused.

**The Cyclops pulled him into a warehouse-size cavern decorated with sheep junk. There was a wool-covered La-Z-Boy recliner and a wool-covered television set, crude bookshelves loaded with sheep collectibles—coffee mugs shaped like sheep faces, plaster figurines of sheep, sheep board games, and picture books and action figures. **

"Wow, someone's a little obsessed with sheep," Nico said.

"Just like you were obsessed with Mythomagic," Percy said, making everyone laugh.

"Hehe, yeah, I still play it!"

"Wow, if he was his old self right now, he'd kill you for letting everyone know that," Thalia whispered.

**The floor was littered with piles of sheep bones, and other bones that didn't look exactly like sheep—the bones of satyrs who'd come to the island looking for Pan.**

"Ew, that's disgusting," Aphrodite wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Poor satyrs," Hermes sighed sadly, while Dionysus looked a little bit upset.

**Polyphemus set Grover down only long enough to move another huge boulder. Daylight streamed into the cave, and Grover whimpered with longing. Fresh air!**

**The Cyclops dragged him outside to a hilltop overlooking the most beautiful island I'd ever seen.**

**It was shaped kind of like a saddle cut in half by an axe. There were lush green hills on either side and a wide valley in the middle, split by a deep chasm that was spanned by a rope bridge. Beautiful streams rolled to the edge of the canyon and dropped off in rainbow-colored waterfalls. Parrots fluttered in the trees. Pink and purple flowers bloomed on the bushes. **

Demeter sighed with a far away look. "Sounds wonderful,"

**Hundreds of sheep grazed in the meadows, their wool glinting strangely like copper and silver coins.**

**And at the center of the island, right next to the rope bridge, was an enormous twisted oak tree with something glittering in its lowest bough.**

**The Golden Fleece.**

"Well what do you know, Grover is with the Golden Fleece," Apollo said.

**Even in a dream, I could feel its power radiating across the island, making the grass greener, the flowers more beautiful. **

**I could almost smell the nature magic at work. I could only imagine how powerful the scent would be for a satyr.**

**Grover whimpered.**

**"Yes," Polyphemus said proudly. "See over there? Fleece is the prize of my collection! Stole it from heroes long ago, and ever since—free food! **

"Lucky, free food!"

"I don't think you would want to eat satyrs for lunch," Hephaestus remarked.

**Satyrs come from all over the world, like moths to flame. Satyrs good eating! And now—"**

"That's… disgusting,"

"But I do wonder what satyrs taste like…?"

"Don't touch my satyrs," Dionysus snapped, at the same time Percy said "Don't let Grover hear you,"

**Polyphemus scooped up a wicked set of bronze shears.**

**Grover yelped, but Polyphemus just picked up the nearest sheep like it was a stuffed animal and shaved off its wool. He handed a fluffy mass of it to Grover.**

**"Put that on the spinning wheel!" he said proudly. "Magic. Cannot be unraveled."**

**"Oh ... well ..."**

**"Poor Honeypie!" **

Everyone tried to not laugh, but failed.

**Polyphemus grinned. "Bad weaver. Ha-ha! Not to worry. That thread will solve problem. Finish wedding train by tomorrow!"**

**"Isn't that ... thoughtful of you!"**

**"Hehe."**

**"But—but, dear," Grover gulped, "what if someone were to rescue—I mean attack this island?" Grover looked straight at me, and I knew he was asking for my benefit. **

**"What would keep them from marching right up here to your cave?"**

**"Wifey scared! So cute! Not to worry. Polyphemus has state-of-the-art security system. Have to get through my pets."**

Hermes snorted as Connor and Travis chuckled.

"I should go and show him what a state-of-the-art security system is," Hermes smirked.

**"Pets?" **

**Grover looked across the island, but there was nothing to see except sheep grazing peacefully in the meadows.**

"Yes, that is so scary," Travis said.

"Really scary," Percy shivered.

**"And then," Polyphemus growled, "they would have to get through me!"**

**He pounded his fist against the nearest rock, which cracked and split in half. "Now, come!" he shouted. "Back to the cave."**

"That's not a very nice husband," Hera frowned.

"Yeah, if I had to stay in a dingy cave, I would slap someone silly and cause them mental turmoil," Aphrodite rolled her eyes.

"You already do that,"

**Grover looked about ready to cry—so close to freedom, but so hopelessly far. Tears welled in his eyes as the boulder door rolled shut, sealing him once again in the stinky torch-lit dankness of the Cyclops's cave.**

Annabeth sighed sadly.

**I woke to alarm bells ringing throughout the ship.**

**The captain's gravelly voice: "All hands on deck! Find Lady Clarisse! Where is that girl?"**

**Then his ghostly face appeared above me. "Get up, Yankee. Your friends are already above. We are approaching the entrance."**

**"The entrance to what?"**

**He gave me a skeletal smile. "The Sea of Monsters, of course."**

**I stuffed my few belongings that had survived the Hydra into a sailor's canvas knapsack and slung it over my shoulder. I had a sneaking suspicion that one way or another I would not be spending another night aboard the CSS Birmingham.**

"And I was right," Percy muttered under his breath.

**I was on my way upstairs when something made me freeze. A presence nearby—something familiar and unpleasant. For no particular reason, I felt like picking a fight. I wanted to punch a dead Confederate. The last time I'd felt like that kind of anger …**

"Ares?" Everyone turned to look at him.

"What? I don't know what I'm doing there,"

**Instead of going up, I crept to the edge of the ventilation grate and peered down into the boiler deck.**

Clarisse glowered at Percy. "You're such an eavesdropper, ever heard of privacy?!"

"I'm sorry Clarisse," Percy said guiltily.

The Olympians looked at each other. Is what's going to happen next so bad?

**Clarisse was standing right below me, talking to an image that shimmered in the steam from the boilers—a muscular man in black leather biker clothes, with a military haircut, red-tinted sunglasses, and a knife strapped to his side.**

**My fists clenched. It was my least favorite Olympian: Ares, the god of war.**

"Well you're not on my good side either," Ares sneered.

**"I don't want excuses, little girl!" he growled.**

**Clarisse flinched.**

**"Y-yes, father," Clarisse mumbled.**

**"You don't want to see me mad, do you?"**

**"No, father."**

**"No, father," Ares mimicked. "You're pathetic. I should've let one of my sons take this quest."**

No one dared to say anything, but by the looks they were giving Ares, everyone was pretty appalled.

**"I'll succeed!" Clarisse promised, her voice trembling. "I'll make you proud."**

**"You'd better," he warned. "You asked me for this quest, girl. If you let that slimeball Jackson kid **

"Well, that's offensive," Percy muttered.

**steal it from you—"**

**"But the Oracle said—"**

**"I DON'T CARE WHAT IT SAID!" Ares bellowed with such force that his image shimmered. "You will succeed. And if you don't ..."**

Clarisse looked down at her hands. She didn't need all the sympathy looks everyone was giving her. She wasn't a broken toy, no, not at all.

**He raised his fist. Even though he was only a figure in the steam, Clarisse flinched.**

**"Do we understand each other?" Ares growled.**

**There was a long pause.**

"Clarisse…" Ares finally broke the silence.

Clarisse looked up. "Look, you don't need to say anything, let's just carry on with the book,"

**The alarm bells rang again. I heard voices coming toward me, officers yelling orders to ready the cannons.**

**I crept back from the ventilation grate and made my way upstairs to join Annabeth and Tyson on the spar deck.**

**"What's wrong?" Annabeth asked me. "Another dream?"**

**I nodded, but I didn't say anything. I didn't know what to think about what I'd seen downstairs. It bothered me almost as much as the dream about Grover.**

"Aw, looks like you really care about Clarisse," Aphrodite beamed.

"Of course, no matter how much we dislike each other, it's impossible to not care,"

Clarisse faintly smiled, but when Percy looked over at her, she glared back.

**Clarisse came up the stairs right after me. I tried not to look at her.**

"And you failed miserably," Thalia guessed.

"Yeah, he did," Clarisse agreed, making Percy pout.

**She grabbed a pair of binoculars from a zombie officer **

Connor snickered, making everyone look towards him. "I hope you said you're please and thank you's,"

Thalia whacked him on the head while Hera said "Finally! Someone has manners,"

**and peered toward the horizon. "At last. Captain, full steam ahead!"**

**I looked in the same direction as she was, but I couldn't see much. The sky was overcast. The air was hazy and humid, like steam from an iron. If I squinted real hard, I could just make out a couple of dark fuzzy splotches in the distance.**

**My nautical senses told me we were somewhere off the coast of northern Florida, so we'd come a long way overnight, farther than any mortal ship should've been able to travel.**

"Duh, when we're involved, miracles happen daily," Hephaestus said.

"We're just awesome like that," Apollo grinned cheekily.

**The engine groaned as we increased speed.**

Poseidon sat up straighter, looking alarmed.

**Tyson muttered nervously, "Too much strain on the pistons. Not meant for deep water."**

**I wasn't sure how he knew that, but it made me nervous.**

**After a few more minutes, the dark splotches ahead of us came into focus. To the north, a huge mass of rock rose out of the sea—an island with cliffs at least a hundred feet tall. About half a mile south of that, the other patch of darkness was a storm brewing. The sky and sea boiled together in a roaring mass.**

**"Hurricane?" Annabeth asked.**

**"No," Clarisse said. "Charybdis."**

Athena's eyes widened, and she shook her head. "You're not going to succeed with the dissatisfying performance of the engine,"

There was a long silence, as Poseidon began growing restless.

"Such big words," Apollo squirmed.

"They're not going to attack you, so relax Apollo,"

"Attacking words… how interesting," Ares mused.

**Annabeth paled. "Are you crazy?"**

"YES!" Poseidon screamed.

Clarisse just grinned. "Thanks,"

**"Only way into the Sea of Monsters. Straight between Charybdis and her sister Scylla." **

Everyone could just see the gears turning in Athena's brain.

"Can you do that… No, but… UGH!" Athena said frusteratedly.

**Clarisse pointed to the top of the cliffs, and I got the feeling something lived up there that I did not want to meet.**

"And you are totally right," Hades chuckled darkly as Poseidon glared.

**"What do you mean the only way?" I asked. "The sea is wide open! Just sail around them."**

Athena rolled her eyes. "That's not going to work,"

"I know that," Percy said, as if he was talking to a 5 year old, making Athena more irritated.

**Clarisse rolled her eyes. "Don't you know anything? If I tried to sail around them, they would just appear in my path again. If you want to get into the Sea of Monsters, you have to sail through them."**

"Yeah Percy, don't you know anything?" Connor mocked.

**"What about the Clashing Rocks?" Annabeth said. "That's another gateway. Jason used it."**

**"I can't blow apart rocks with my cannons," Clarisse said. "Monsters, on the other hand …"**

Athena's jaw dropped.

"YEAH! BLOW THEM TO SMITHERINES!" Ares grinned maniacally.

"You've got to be kidding me…" Athena said. "Do you really think cannons will destroy these strong monsters?"

No answer.

**"You are crazy," Annabeth decided.**

"You just noticed?" Travis smirked.

**"Watch and learn, Wise Girl." Clarisse turned to the captain. "Set course for Charybdis!"**

**"Aye, m'lady."**

**The engine groaned, the iron plating rattled, and the ship began to pick up speed.**

"This is not going to end well," Poseidon groaned.

"Stop being so negative," Hera snapped impatiently.

**"Clarisse," I said, "Charybdis sucks up the sea. Isn't that the story?"**

**"And spits it back out again, yeah."**

**"What about Scylla?"**

**"She lives in a cave, up on those cliffs. If we get too close, her snaky heads will come down and start plucking sailors off the ship."**

**"Choose Scylla then," I said. "Everybody goes below deck and we chug right past."**

"It's never that easy, Kelp Head," Thalia commented.

"A guy can wish," Percy said wistfully. "But than again, I have the worst luck ever,"

"True," All the demigods chorused, panicking Poseidon even more.

**"No!" Clarisse insisted. "If Scylla doesn't get her easy meat, she might pick up the whole ship. Besides, she's too high to make a good target. My cannons can't shoot straight up. **

"Forget your cannons, let's just make peace with them!" Aphrodite said.

"Oh my gods…" Everyone had on a disbelieving look.

"I don't think Charybdis or Scylla would agree,"

"MAKE PEACE!?" Ares look outraged. "I say we have a full fledged war!"

"NO! And lady Aphrodite, we can't make peace with them. It's like a giraffe becoming best friends with a crocodile. It just doesn't happen!" Connor said.

"You never know," Nico grinned.

**Charybdis just sits there at the center of her whirlwind. We're going to steam straight toward her, train our guns on her, and blow her to Tartarus!"**

"Good plan!" Ares said.

Athena shook her head. Not really.

**She said it with such relish I almost wanted to believe her.**

Clarisse smirked with pride.

**The engine hummed. The boilers were heating up so much I could feel the deck getting warm beneath my feet. The smokestacks billowed. The red Ares flag whipped in the wind.**

"That sounds so dramatic,"

"Well don't blame me, books are always dramatic," Percy said.

**As we got closer to the monsters, the sound of Charybdis got louder and louder—a horrible wet roar like the galaxy's biggest toilet being flushed. **

"What an… interesting comparison," Hephaestus chuckled.

"Percy, thanks for giving me that awkward image," Thalia stuck out her tongue.

"Totally my pleasure," Percy smirked back.

**Every time Charybdis inhaled, the ship shuddered and lurched forward. Every time she exhaled, we rose in the water and were buffeted by ten-foot waves.I tried to time the whirlpool. As near as I could figure, it took Charybdis about three minutes to suck up and destroy everything within a half-mile radius. To avoid her, we would have to skirt right next to Scylla's cliffs. And as bad as Scylla might be, those cliffs were looking awfully good to me.**

"That is until huge claws grab you in a vice grip and the next thing you know, you're seeing you're uncle," Ares winked happily.

"More brats to bother me in my kingdom," Hades muttered.

Poseidon chewed his lip nervously. "That won't happen right? That can't happen. You're still here!"

Percy laughed nervously. "Calm down dad…"

**Undead sailors calmly went about their business on the spar deck. I guess they'd fought a losing cause before, so this didn't bother them. **

Clarisse rolled her eyes. As much she loved undead sailors, she just wished they would stop being so lazy.

**Or maybe they didn't care about getting destroyed because they were already deceased. Neither thought made me feel any better.**

**Annabeth stood next to me, gripping the rail. "You still have your thermos full of wind?"**

"You better," Hermes pouted.

**I nodded. "But it's too dangerous to use with a whirl pool like that. More wind might just make things worse."**

**"What about controlling the water?" she asked. "You're Poseidon's son. You've done it before."**

**She was right. I closed my eyes and tried to calm the sea, but I couldn't concentrate. Charybdis was too loud and powerful. The waves wouldn't respond.**

**"I—I can't," I said miserably.**

Athena rubbed her temples nervously. "Great, I'm turning into an emotional wreck, like Poseidon,"

"Hey!" Poseidon frowned.

**"We need a backup plan," Annabeth said. "This isn't going to work."**

**"Annabeth is right," Tyson said. "Engine's no good."**

**"What do you mean?" she asked.**

**"Pressure. Pistons need fixing."**

**Before he could explain, the cosmic toilet flushed with a mighty roaaar! The ship lurched forward and I was thrown to the deck. We were in the whirlpool.**

Poseidon sucked in a breath. "No, you've got to be kidding me,"

"Who's kidding?" Hades said.

"How did you guys get out alive," Travis looked at Annabeth, Clarisse and Percy in awe.

"I know, we're so great, no need to bow to us," Clarisse smirked.

"And you say I'm the egotistical one," Percy scoffed to Thalia.

"Fine, you both are," Thalia laughed.

**"Full reverse!" Clarisse screamed above the noise. The sea churned around us, waves crashing over the deck. The iron plating was now so hot it steamed. "Get us within firing range! Make ready starboard cannons!"**

**Dead Confederates rushed back and forth. The propeller grinded into reverse, trying to slow the ship, but we kept sliding toward the center of the vortex.**

**A zombie sailor burst out of the hold and ran to Clarisse. His gray uniform was smoking. His beard was on fire. "Boiler room overheating, ma'am! She's going to blow!"**

"Boom," Ares grinned.

"Hey, don't act so excited. You're daughter's on the boat too," Artemis pointed out.

"Oh,"

**"Well, get down there and fix it!"**

**"Can't!" the sailor yelled. "We're vaporizing in the heat."**

"Ha, automatons are better. I can make them heat-resistant," Hephaestus said proudly.

"Brilliant," Dionysus said sarcastically. Like he'd actually want to know about these things.

**Clarisse pounded the side of the casemate. "All I need is a few more minutes! Just enough to get in range!"**

**"We're going in too fast," the captain said grimly. "Prepare yourself for death."**

"That captain isn't very comforting is he," Poseidon grimaced.

"Un-comforting is his middle name," Percy rolled his eyes.

"How do you know? Did you ask him?" Connor asked.

"Uh, no, Percy was just kidding," Annabeth stifled a chuckle.

**"No!" Tyson bellowed. "I can fix it."**

**Clarisse looked at him incredulously. "You?"**

**"He's a Cyclops," Annabeth said. "He's immune to fire. And he knows mechanics."**

**"Go!" yelled Clarisse.**

"Sheesh Clarisse, ever heard of manners?"

"Travis, ever heard of shut up or I'll beat you up?" Clarisse smiled innocently.

"She's just like Ares," Hera mumbled.

**"Tyson, no!" I grabbed his arm. "It's too dangerous!"**

**He patted my hand. "Only way, brother." His expression was determined—confident, even. I'd never seen him look like his before. "I will fix it. Be right back."**

Poseidon pulled his hair in frustration. "NO! By the gods, Tyson better be okay,"

**As I watched him follow the smoldering sailor down the hatch, I had a terrible feeling. I wanted to run after him, but the ship lurched again—and then I saw Charybdis.**

**She appeared only a few hundred yards away, through a swirl of mist and smoke and water. The first thing I noticed was the reef—a black crag of coral with a fig tree clinging to the top, an oddly peaceful thing in the middle of a maelstrom. All around it, water curved into a funnel, like light around a black hole. Then I saw the horrible thing anchored to the reef just below the waterline—an enormous mouth with slimy lips and mossy teeth the size of rowboats. And worse, the teeth had braces, bands of corroded scummy metal with pieces of fish and driftwood and floating garbage stuck between them.**

"EW!" Aphrodite looked horrified.

"You have the weirdest thoughts ever," Thalia smirked.

Demeter agreed. "Like seriously, when do you ever need to describe someone's teeth?"

"What happens if an orthodontist happens to stumble upon this book, and is curious as to what Charybdis' teeth look like?" Percy said, making everyone laugh.

"Okay there, that is so unlikely," Hera rolled her eyes.

**Charybdis was an orthodontist's nightmare. She was nothing but a huge black maw with bad teeth alignment and a serious overbite, and she'd done nothing for centuries but eat without brushing after meals. **

"I wonder how many cavities she has," Travis said.

**As I watched, the entire sea around her was sucked into the void—sharks, schools of fish, a giant squid. **

Poseidon sat there pouting. "Poor fish! T-they were so young!"

"I know right," Percy said sadly. "Even if they don't get chopped up, they'll die of the bad breath,"

"It's okay…" Hermes said awkwardly. "We can… uh… get you a goldfish later!"

"Okay," they chorused.

Everyone smiled at the antics of Poseidon and Percy.

**And I realized that in a few seconds, the CSS Birmingham would be next.**

**"Lady Clarisse," the captain shouted. "Starboard and forward guns are in range!"**

**"Fire!" Clarisse ordered.**

"Finally, some action," Ares grinned.

"What are you talking about! This whole chapter has been all action!" Artemis groaned.

"They should have more love," Aphrodite sighed.

**Three rounds were blasted into the monster's maw. One blew off the edge of an incisor. Another disappeared into her gullet. The third hit one of Charybdis's retaining bands and shot back at us, snapping the Ares flag off its pole.**

Ares growled. "My flag… Stupid sea monster,"

**"Again!" Clarisse ordered. The gunners reloaded, but I knew it was hopeless. We would have to pound the monster a hundred more times to do any real damage, and we didn't have that long. We were being sucked in too fast.**

**Then the vibrations in the deck changed. The hum of the engine got stronger and steadier. The ship shuddered and we started pulling away from the mouth.**

Poseidon grinned proudly. "Tyson did it! Yeah!"

**"Tyson did it!" Annabeth said.**

**"Wait!" Clarisse said. "We need to stay close!"**

**"We'll die!" I said. "We have to move away."**

"Move away. I'd rather have you alive," Poseidon frowned.

"Oh come on! Clarisse needs to show that ugly sea monster whose boss!" Ares yelled happily.

**I gripped the rail as the ship fought against the suction. The broken Ares flag raced past us and lodged in Charybdis's braces. We weren't making much progress, but at least we were holding our own. Tyson had somehow given us just enough juice to keep the ship from being sucked in.**

**Suddenly, the mouth snapped shut. The sea died to absolute calm. Water washed over Charybdis.**

**Then, just as quickly as it had closed, the mouth exploded open, spitting out a wall of water, ejecting every thing inedible, including our cannonballs, one of which slammed into the side of the CSS Birmingham with a ding like the bell on a carnival game.**

"You know what they say about karma," Annabeth giggled uncontrollably.

"What goes around comes around," Thalia winked.

**We were thrown backward on a wave that must've been forty feet high. I used all of my willpower to keep the ship from capsizing, but we were still spinning out of control, hurtling toward the cliffs on the opposite side of the strait.**

**Another smoldering sailor burst out of the hold. He stumbled into Clarisse, almost knocking them both over board. "The engine is about to blow!"**

**"Where's Tyson?" I demanded.**

**"Still down there," the sailor said. "Holding it together somehow, though I don't know for how much longer."**

**The captain said, "We have to abandon ship."**

"No, only wusses do that!" Ares yelled. "Stupid undead sailors,"

"They're not stupid," Hades objected. "They're just careless,"

"Okay, no one cares Mr. Emo."

**"No!" Clarisse yelled.**

**"We have no choice, m'lady. The hull is already cracking apart! She can't—"**

**He never finished his sentence. Quick as lightning, something brown and green shot from the sky, snatched up the captain, and lifted him away. All that was left were his leather boots.**

"Scylla…" Athena whispered.

Poseidon groaned and banged his head on his throne.

**"Scylla!" a sailor yelled, as another column of reptilian flesh shot from the cliffs and snapped him up. It happened so fast it was like watching a laser beam rather than a monster. **

"Laser beam," Nico snickered. "Like an alien abduction!"

Everyone couldn't help but laugh.

**I couldn't even make out the thing's face, just a flash of teeth and scales.**

**I uncapped Riptide and tried to swipe at the monster as it carried off another deckhand, but I was way too slow.**

**"Everyone get below!" I yelled.**

**"We can't!" Clarisse drew her own sword. "Below deck is in flames."**

**"Lifeboats!" Annabeth said. "Quick!"**

**"They'll never get clear of the cliffs," Clarisse said. "We'll all be eaten."**

"Negative people these days," Nico said. "Always so negative,"

"What? I'm confused," Connor said.

**"We have to try. Percy, the thermos."**

**"I can't leave Tyson!"**

"Tyson, oh jeez," Poseidon muttered.

**"We have to get the boats ready!"**

**Clarisse took Annabeth's command. She and a few of her undead sailors uncovered one of the two emergency rowboats while Scylla's heads rained from the sky like a meteor shower with teeth, picking off Confederate sailors one after another.**

"Ha, they deserved it, after how lazy they were," Ares said.

"Ares, darling, don't be so mean," Aphrodite pouted.

**"Get the other boat." I threw Annabeth the thermos. "I'll get Tyson."**

**"You can't!" she said. "The heat will kill you!"**

**I didn't listen. **

"Percy!" Poseidon whined.

"Sorry dad," Percy rolled his eyes.

**I ran for the boiler room hatch, when suddenly my feet weren't touching the deck anymore. I was flying straight up, the wind whistling in my ears, the side of the cliff only inches from my face.**

Everyone's eyes widened.

"You got… caught?" Poseidon whispered frantically.

"Uh… just by my backpack, so it's all fine," Percy hurriedly said, not wanting to give Poseidon a heart attack.

**Scylla had somehow caught me by the knapsack, and was lifting me up toward her lair. Without thinking, I swung my sword behind me and managed to jab the thing in her beady yellow eye. She grunted and dropped me.**

**The fall would've been bad enough, considering I was a hundred feet in the air. But as I fell, the CSS Birmingham exploded below me.**

**KAROOM!**

"WHAT!" Poseidon exploded. "How did you even get out alive? Oh gods, no,"

"Calm down Uncle P!" Apollo slapped him.

"You…" Poseidon trailed off. He slapped Apollo back.

"Hey!" Slap.

"APOLLO, Stop slapping me!" Slap.

"You stop slapping me first!" Slap.

"GUYS!" Zeus said in a serious tone, than ended up chuckling. Soon enough, everyone was on the floor laughing.

**The engine room blew, sending chunks of ironclad flying in either direction like a fiery set of wings.**

**"Tyson!" I yelled.**

**The lifeboats had managed to get away from the ship, but not very far. Flaming wreckage was raining down. Clarisse and Annabeth would either be smashed or burned or pulled to the bottom by the force of the sinking hull, and that was thinking optimistically, assuming they got away from Scylla.**

"Yay, Percy's being optimistic for once," Thalia said sarcastically.

**Then I heard a different kind of explosion—the sound of Hermes's magic thermos being opened a little too far. **

"NOOOOOOOO! My magic thermos," Hermes said mournfully.

"Oh shut it, we've got more important things to deal with," Athena rolled her eyes.

"Athena, you have to let down Hermes gently. Don't you see he's in pain?" Hera scolded.

"PAH! I was in pain, but that didn't stop you from throwing me off Olympus," Hephaestus grumbled moodily.

Hera just ignored him.

**White sheets of wind blasted in every direction, scattering the lifeboats, lifting me out of my free fall and propelling me across the ocean.**

**I couldn't see anything. I spun in the air, got clonked on the head by something hard, and hit the water with a crash that would've broken every bone in my body if I hadn't been the son of the Sea God.**

**The last thing I remembered was sinking in a burning sea, knowing that Tyson was gone forever, and wishing I were able to drown.**

"Done,"

"Let's read the next chapter," Poseidon urged frantically.

"I'm hungry," Apollo whined. "Can we eat first?"

"NO, READ ON!" Poseidon yelled.

"Dad, calm down…" Percy soothed.

"Let's go eat," Apollo drawled.

Poseidon let out a big sigh. "Artemis is right, you are a huge fatty."

Artemis nodded her head enthusiastically. Quickly, Poseidon summoned some Ambrosia flavoured chips and threw it at Apollo, which smacked him in the face. "Now, let's read!"

"Never thought I'd hear Poseidon actually wanting to read," Athena mumbled.


	14. Chapter 14

"I'll read," Hestia said.

**"We Check in to C.C.'s Spa & Resort,"**

"Aww, you get to relax now!" Demeter frowned.

"Good for you kids. Now you'll be able to become pretty again!" Aphrodite smiled perkily. "And rejuvenate."

"Well this chapter is going to be boring," Ares, Apollo and Hermes rolled their eyes.

"No one's going to die, yay!" Poseidon clapped happily.

Percy grimaced. "Yeah, keep dreaming,"

Poseidon's smile was wiped into a frown and he groaned.

**I woke up in a rowboat with a makeshift sail stitched of gray uniform fabric. Annabeth sat next to me, tacking into the wind.**

**I tried to sit up and immediately felt woozy.**

**"Rest," she said. "You're going to need it."**

**"Tyson ... ?"**

**She shook her head. "Percy, I'm really sorry."**

Poseidon looked down mournfully. "He's… okay right?"

Percy nodded. "He's got all 2 hands and feet,"

"Great, I'd hate to see Tyson with only 1 foot left," Clarisse snickered.

**We were silent while the waves tossed us up and down.**

"Bleh, how can you guys not get sea sick?" Nico looked kind of green.

Percy pointed to himself. "Son of sea god here,"

Annabeth rolled her eyes than pointed to herself too. "I used to get seasick a lot, but since you are the boyfriend of the sea freak, it's practically your duty to love the sea as much as he does,"

Percy grinned while Nico couldn't help but scowl and Aphrodite cooed.

**"He may have survived," she said halfheartedly. "I mean, fire can't kill him."**

**I nodded, but I had no reason to feel hopeful. I'd seen that explosion rip through solid iron. If Tyson had been down in the boiler room, there was no way he could've lived.**

"And I thought Nico was depressing," Thalia said. "Sheesh, you're so pessimistic."

"Gosh, I've never heard that before," Percy said with thick sarcasm.

"You think i'm depressing? Aw, that's so sweet!" Nico grinned.

**He'd given his life for us, and all I could think about were the times I'd felt embarrassed by him and had denied that the two of us were related.**

Percy felt incredibly guilty.

**Waves lapped at the boat. Annabeth showed me some things she'd salvaged from the wreckage—Hermes's thermos (now empty),**

Hermes twitched. "My… my thermos…"

"Sorry Lord Hermes…" Percy and Annabeth said sheepishly.

"It was a collector's item! Had a picture of Hercules," Hermes sighed sadly.

"Don't get your toga in a twist," Hades grumbled.

**a Ziploc bag full of ambrosia, a couple of sailors' shirts, and a bottle of Dr Pepper. **

"I love Dr Pepper!" Travis exclaimed.

**She'd fished me out of the water **

Everyone burst out laughing.

"Ironic use of words," Hera mused.

"Percy's like a fish now!" Thalia choked out, before laughing again.

"Hey, it's not like I try. I just use those words automatically," Percy said, while Poseidon smiled amusedly, but he was still worried for Tyson.

**and found my knapsack, bitten in half by Scylla's teeth. Most of my stuff had floated away, but I still had Hermes's bottle of multivitamins, and of course I had Riptide. The ballpoint pen always appeared back in my pocket no matter where I lost it.**

"Well, that's useful. Atleast you don't have to ask Chiron for another sword daily," Artemis commented.

"Yeah, we'd run out of celestial bronze," Annabeth said.

**We sailed for hours. **

Nico felt sick just thinking about it.

**Now that we were in the Sea of Monsters, the water glittered a more brilliant green, like Hydra acid. **

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" Apollo cocked his head to the side.

"Well, yeah. I could never bear to insult the sea. Ever," Percy had a far away look.

"Sea freak," Athena had a faint smile on.

**The wind smelled fresh and salty, but it carried a strange metallic scent, too—as if a thunderstorm were coming. Or something even more dangerous. **

"Nice to know…" Poseidon mumbled.

**I knew what direction we needed to go. I knew we were exactly one hundred thirteen nautical miles west by northwest of our destination. But that didn't make me feel any less lost.**

**No matter which way we turned, the sun seemed to shine straight into my eyes. **

"I know," Apollo sighed wistfully. "I'm just so bright and shiny,"

"Is that like the only thought that goes through you brain all day?" Artemis rolled her eyes.

"No, I'm also thinking about ice cream. Yum, but it would probably melt from how hot I am,"

Cue face-palms.

**We took turns sipping from the Dr Pepper, shading ourselves with the sail as best we could. **

**And we talked about my latest dream of Grover.**

**By Annabeth's estimate, we had less than twenty-four hours to find Grover, assuming my dream was accurate, and assuming the Cyclops Polyphemus didn't change his mind and try to marry Grover earlier.**

A few people tried to stifle their laughs at the thought of Grover marrying a Cyclopes.

**"Yeah," I said bitterly. "You can never trust a Cyclops."**

**Annabeth stared across the water. "I'm sorry, Percy. I was wrong about Tyson, okay? I wish I could tell him that."**

"Did you?" Demeter asked.

"I… well… Not in those exact words…" Annabeth stumbled. "But he knows it. He's one of my best friends,"

**I tried to stay mad at her, but it wasn't easy. We'd been through a lot together. She'd saved my life plenty of times. It was stupid of me to resent her.**

**I looked down at our measly possessions—the empty wind thermos, the bottle of multivitamins. I thought about Luke's look of rage when I'd tried to talk to him about his dad.**

Hermes stared at the book gloomily, but he now knows that it was meant to happen, and he can't change anything about it.

**"Annabeth, what's Chiron's prophecy?"**

**She pursed her lips. "Percy, I shouldn't—"**

**"I know Chiron promised the gods he wouldn't tell me. But you didn't promise, did you?"**

"Percy, we don't tell you for a good reason," Poseidon said quietly.

"I know, i'm just… curious,"

"You know what they say, curiosity killed the cat," Demeter said.

"Ugh," Apollo sighed frustratedly. "People say that all the time, but I don't understand what cat they're talking about!"

"Apollo, when people say 'curiosity killed the cat,' they mean that sometimes being curious is a bad thing," Hestia explained.

"But Athena said, that curiosity makes the world go 'round,"

"You see? Athena, your wisdom backfires!" Poseidon grinned. "Ha,"

"It only backfires to people like Apollo," Athena grumbled.

**"Knowledge isn't always good for you."**

**"Your mom is the wisdom goddess!"**

"Someone just got owned," Nico grinned.

"You're such a moron," Thalia joked.

"Define moron,"

"Another word for someone dumb," Annabeth rolled her eyes.

**"I know! But every time heroes learn the future, they try to change it, and it never works."**

"Sheesh, have they ever heard of just accepting the truth?" Artemis said.

"Well, I don't think you'd accept the truth if someone says you'll die soon," Percy commented.

"True, but I'm a goddess, I can't die,"

"Lucky you," Percy thought of all the times he was close to dying.

**"The gods are worried about something I'll do when I get older," I guessed. "Something when I turn sixteen."**

"Ah, the great prophecy. Looks like Peter isn't so clueless afterall," Dionysus smirked.

Clarisse snickered. "Even Mr. D thinks you're clueless,"

**Annabeth twisted her Yankees cap in her hands. "Percy, I don't know the full prophecy, but it warns about a half-blood child of the Big Three—the next one who lives to the age of sixteen. That's the real reason Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades swore a pact after World War II not to have any more kids. The next child of the Big Three who reaches sixteen will be a dangerous weapon."**

"And we still ended up with 3 children of the Big Three," Hera pointed out.

**"Why?"**

**"Because that hero will decide the fate of Olympus. He or she will make a decision that either saves the Age of the Gods, or destroys it."**

"I really hope it's the first one," Apollo rocked back and forth.

"No duh, we all do," Ares said. "Maybe except for me…"

"How comforting," Demeter gulped.

**I let that sink in. **

"Everything's related to water," Travis shook his head.

"No, you just point out everything that seems to be related to water," Percy retorted.

**I don't get seasick, but suddenly I felt ill. **

"Ha, atleast that's really similar to getting seasick," Nico pointed out.

"Sheesh, I just don't know why you want me to get seasick so badly," Percy said.

"Because, I want you to feel my pain! My suffering!"

"Okay, that's kind of creepy,"

**"That's why Kronos didn't kill me last summer."**

"And I'm thankful to my father for that," Poseidon rolled his eyes.

"I'm not," Zeus grumbled. Hades just shrugged.

**She nodded. "You could be very useful to him. If he can get you on his side, the gods will be in serious trouble."**

"Bah, like that'd happen in a million years." Percy scoffed.

"You're so cocky," Athena said.

"You said so yourself that I was loyal," Percy smirked, happy that for once he used the goddess of wisdom's words against her. In a quieter voice, he whispered "Besides, you guys mean the world to me,"

**"But if it's me in the prophecy—"**

**"We'll only know that if you survive three more years. That can be a long time for a half-blood. **

"That's kind of sad,"

"Yeah, well, welcome to our life, where everything is dark and gloomy," Thalia said gloomily.

The Olympians stayed silence because… well, there was nothing to say.

Seeing they're ashamed faces, Annabeth said "Atleast nothing's ever boring,"

**When Chiron first learned about Thalia, he assumed she was the one in the prophecy. That's why he was so desperate to get her safely to camp. Then she went down fighting and got turned into a pine tree and none of us knew what to think. **

"Honestly, I'm not even phased that you mentioned me anymore," Thalia said, trying to lighten up the mood.

"Good, cause I'm going to mention you a whole lot of more times," Percy grinned, causing Thalia to glare. "Oh, I can't help it, your such an important part of our lives. You make the world go 'round,"

"I thought that was curiosity…?" Apollo looked towards Athena.

"Okay, drop it you moron,"

"Percy, you're such a suck up," Nico stuck out his tongue.

"Better than being a fried fish," Percy grinned back.

"ANOTHER FISH REFERENCE!" Travis screamed, causing everyone to roll their eyes.

**Until you came along."**

**On our port side, a spiky green dorsal fin about fifteen feet long curled out of the water and disappeared. **

"Ah, I wonder if that was Greckle, my trusty friend," Poseidon sighed contently.

"Now, if you weren't the sea god, I would've thought you lost you're marbles," Hermes commented.

"I already think that," Athena chimed in.

**"This kid in the prophecy ... he or she couldn't be like, a Cyclops?" I asked. "The Big Three have lots of monster children."**

"Mostly Poseidon," Athena grinned cheekily at said person. "Or maybe it's normal for him,"

Poseidon glared, flicking some water at Athena.

"Do that again, I dare you," Athena said venomously.

"Okay," Flick.

Athena screamed while charging at Poseidon, on the way summoning a sword. Right before Athena could attack Poseidon; Zeus quickly changed the shield to a pillow, not wanting to cause his brother some brain damage. That would cause some problems on the winter solstice coming up, and that would not do at all. Nonetheless, Athena still kept hitting him repeatedly.

"AHHHH! STOP THIS LUNATIC!" Poseidon yelled.

Percy and Nico just sat to the side, watching all this in amusement while cuddling.

Finally, Hera and a few other Olympians managed to pull Athena away. "Don't mess with me ever again,"

Poseidon smirked back, even though he was a little bruised. Who knew pillows could be so hard? "You dared me to, and I just love dares,"

"I dare you to jump off Olympus," Athena glared.

Poseidon smiled cheekily. "No, its okay. Heights aren't really my thing,"

**Annabeth shook her head. "The Oracle said 'half-blood.' That always means half-human, half-god. There's really nobody alive who it could be, except you."**

"Ha, well there's me and…" Nico trailed off, forgetting that Bianca wasn't alive anymore.

**"Then why do the gods even let me live? It would be safer to kill me."**

"Yes, much safer," Zeus raised his eyebrows, examining Percy.

"Don't you even dare," Poseidon growled.

"Father, let's try not to start another war, okay?" Athena rolled her eyes.

"Says the one who was trying to kill Poseidon a minute ago," Hermes said.

"No promises, but we'll try our best," Zeus smirked, ignoring Hermes.

"You're right."

"Thanks a lot."

"No problem," Connor chimed in.

Everyone looked towards him.

"What, I just wanted to fit in with the conversation…"

**"Percy, I don't know. I guess some of the gods would like to kill you, but they're probably afraid of offending Poseidon. **

"Yeah, because if you offend me, I'll… hm… you don't want to know what I'll do," Poseidon decided.

"Yeah, scary. It's even scarier that you couldn't even finish your threat," Ares said.

**Other gods ... maybe they're still watching you, trying to decide what kind of hero you're going be. **

"Oh, I guess we'll all be watching now," Hephaestus said.

"Like a bunch of stalkers," Hermes laughed.

"Hey, we're not stalkers, we just like to watch people when they don't know," Apollo protested.

"That's called stalking," Athena rolled her eyes.

"Well, too bad, its fun. Deal with it," Apollo huffed.

"This conversation is so creepy," Thalia said.

"Yeah, watch me be paranoid from now on," Percy said.

**You could be a weapon for their survival, after all. The real question is ... what will you do in three years? What decision will you make?"**

"How ominous," Thalia said.

**"Did the prophecy give any hints?"**

**Annabeth hesitated.**

**Maybe she would've told me more, but just then a sea gull swooped down out of nowhere and landed on our makeshift mast. Annabeth looked startled as the bird dropped a small cluster of leaves into her lap.**

"Seagull… A sure sign of land," Athena said with her calculating eyes.

**"Land," she said. "There's land nearby!"**

**I sat up. Sure enough, there was a line of blue and brown in the distance. Another minute and I could make out an island with a small mountain in the center, a dazzling white collection of buildings, a beach dotted with palm trees, and a harbor filled with a strange assortment of boats.**

"Finally, you guys get to land!" Nico said. "You know, if I were you, I'd be kissing the land with pleasure,"

"Ah, but you're not me," Percy said.

"Yeah, I'm not, because If I we're you, than you'd be me, unless I didn't exist in this world and you were in a different spirit in a different body, and I'd still be you, doing what you do, being what you are. The only difference would be that you aren't me but I'm you." Nico said thoughtfully.

"…What?" Everyone looked at Nico in confusion.

"Did anyone follow that?"

"No, and I'm the goddess of wisdom…"

**The current was pulling our rowboat toward what looked like a tropical paradise.**

"Oh jeez, expect major trouble. Tropical paradises are just beacons of bad luck for demigods," Thalia grimaced.

"Nice to know for the future," Apollo said.

"Actually, Apollo, you didn't really need to know that since you're a god," Travis said.

**"Welcome!" said the lady with the clipboard.**

**She looked like a flight attendant—blue business suit, perfect makeup, hair pulled back in a ponytail. She shook our hands as we stepped onto the dock. With the dazzling smile she gave us, you would've thought we'd just gotten off the Princess Andromeda rather than a banged-up rowboat.**

"Maybe she was enchanted to think that you're trash of a rowboat was a luxurious cruise instead?" Nico asked. "Oh, how I want some cantaloupe right now."

"How are those two things even related," Hera asked exasperatedly.

"They are! On a cruise, you can get cantaloupe,"

"If you we're to look at it that way, everything would be related to each other," Artemis pointed out.

"Does that mean that peanuts are related to gods?" Connor asked.

"Wow, that's insulting," Zeus frowned.

**Then again, our rowboat wasn't the weirdest ship in port. Along with a bunch of pleasure yachts, there was a U.S. Navy submarine, several dugout canoes, and an old-fashioned three-masted sailing ship. There was a helipad with a "Channel Five Fort Lauderdale" helicopter on it, and a short runway with a Learjet and a propeller plane that looked like a World War II fighter. Maybe they were replicas for tourists to look at or something.**

Athena narrowed her eyes. "That's… weird,"

**"Is this your first time with us?" the clipboard lady inquired.**

"Ha, well it'd obviously be my first time, since I'm still a boy," Percy huffed.

"What?" Everyone asked, except for Annabeth and Nico , who began laughing.

**Annabeth and I exchanged looks. Annabeth said, "Umm ..."**

**"First—time—at—spa," the lady said as she wrote on her clipboard. "Let's see ..."**

"Spas, I love them!" Aphrodite grinned excitedly.

**She looked us up and down critically. "Mmm. An herbal wrap to start for the young lady. And of course, a complete makeover for the young gentleman."**

**"A what?" I asked.**

**She was too busy jotting down notes to answer.**

"Or maybe you're not important enough to be answered," Thalia smirked.

"You can think like that, but personally, I think she wasn't worthy to answer my awesome questions," Percy laughed.

**"Right!" She said with a breezy smile. "Well, I'm sure C.C. will want to speak with you personally before the luau. Come, please."**

"C.C?" Athena cocked her head to the side. "Does it stand for something?"

"Unfortunately… yes," Annabeth said.

**Now here's the thing. Annabeth and I were used to traps, and usually those traps looked good at first. **

**So I expected the clipboard lady to turn into a snake or a demon, or something, any minute.**

"Yeah, I was pretty disappointed when that didn't happen," Percy mumbled.

"Why?" Artemis raised her eyebrows.

"Because my assumption was wrong,"

"So you must be disappointed a lot eh?" Athena laughed.

"Ooh you just got owned," Connor grinned, resulting in a whack on the head. Everyone else was surprised that Athena made a joke.

**But on the other hand, we'd been floating in a rowboat for most of the day. I was hot, tired, and hungry, and when this lady mentioned a luau, my stomach sat up on its hind legs and begged like a dog.**

"Now that, is what I call a funny sight," everyone laughed.

"It makes me think of you eating a dog," Nico grinned.

"You'd really think I'd eat a dog?" Percy stuck out his tongue in disgust.

"Well, you are a weird child, so I would say yes," Clarisse said.

"Oh Perce, how could you eat innocent dogs? What did they ever do to you?" Nico pouted. "Sheesh, you're evil,"

"But–" Percy protested.

"No, you're not forgiven!"

Percy sighed. Why would he even want to eat a dog, that's just inhumane.

**"I guess it couldn't hurt," Annabeth muttered.**

"How wrong we were," Percy said.

Poseidon looked alarmed.

**Of course it could, but we followed the lady anyway. **

"Kelp Head, you're so careless," Thalia said.

"Hey, what about Annabeth, she was there too," Percy remarked as Annabeth turned to glare at him.

"Yeah, but everyone knows, you always blame the guy."

"Well that sucks," Percy said while all the men agreed.

**I kept my hands in my pockets where I'd stashed my only magic defenses—Hermes's multivitamins and Riptide— but the farther we wandered into the resort, the more I forgot about them.**

Poseidon began biting his nails in anticipation.

**The place was amazing. There was white marble and blue water everywhere I looked. Terraces climbed up the side of the mountain, with swimming pools on every level, connected by watersides and waterfalls and underwater tubes you could swim through. Fountains sprayed water into the air, forming impossible shapes, like flying eagles and galloping horses.**

"That is so cool!" Connor and Travis exclaimed excitedly.

"Horses!" Nico grinned. "Yeah, I don't like horses very much."

A lot of people looked at Nico curiously, wondering why he would sound so excited if he hates horses while Poseidon and Percy looked appalled.

"Oh, so much water… That seems like a nice place," Poseidon commented.

**Tyson loved horses, and I knew he'd love those fountains. I almost turned around to see the expression on his face before I remembered: Tyson was gone.**

Poseidon let out a heavy sigh.

**"You okay?" Annabeth asked me. "You look pale."**

**"I'm okay," I lied. "Just ... let's keep walking."**

**We passed all kinds of tame animals. A sea turtle napped in a stack of beach towels. A leopard stretched out asleep on the diving board. The resort guests—only young women, as far as I could see—**

"I wonder why…" Annabeth giggled.

"I don't get what's so funny," Travis spoke what a lot of people were thinking.

"I hate how I always pay close attention to my surroundings, but never take the hint that's just screaming danger," Percy whispered quietly, so that only Annabeth could hear.

"Oh, but than life just wouldn't be as exciting," Annabeth grinned back.

**lounged in deck chairs, drinking fruit smoothies or reading magazines while herbal gunk dried on their faces and manicurists in white uniforms did their nails.**

**As we headed up a staircase toward what looked like the main building, I heard a woman singing. Her voice drifted through the air like a lullaby. Her words were in some language other than Ancient Greek, but just as old—Minoan, maybe, or something like that. I could understand what she sang about—moonlight in the olive groves, the colors of the sunrise. And magic. Something about magic. Her voice seemed to lift me off the steps and carry me toward her.**

"Percy is being enchanted," Connor fake coughed.

"Connor will die soon if he doesn't shut up," Percy mimicked Connor, coughing.

"Well, that'd be intriguing to find out how you do it," Nico looked genuinely curious, as Connor pouted.

"Hurtful,"

"Son, its okay. You could go hide in the cabinets or something. He won't find you there," Hermes whispered.

**We came into a big room where the whole front wall was windows. The back wall was covered in mirrors, so the room seemed to go on forever. There was a bunch of expensive-looking white furniture, and on a table in one corner was a large wire pet cage. The cage seemed out of place, but I didn't think about it too much, because just then I saw the lady who'd been singing ... and whoa.**

**She sat at a loom the size of a big screen TV, **

**"Holy gods–"**

"I know, we're so holy," Apollo beamed.

"–that's a huge loom," Travis continued.

**her hands weaving colored thread back and forth with amazing skill. The tapestry shimmered like it was three dimensional—a waterfall scene so real I could see the water moving and clouds drifting across a fabric sky.**

**Annabeth caught her breath. "It's beautiful."**

**The woman turned. She was even prettier than her fabric. Her long dark hair was braided with threads of gold. She had piercing green eyes and she wore a silky black dress with shapes that seemed to move in the fabric: animal shadows, black upon black, like deer running through a forest at night .**

**"You appreciate weaving, my dear?" the woman asked.**

**"Oh, yes, ma'am!" Annabeth said. "My mother is—"**

**She stopped herself. You couldn't just go around announcing that your mom was Athena, the goddess who invented the loom. Most people would lock you in a rubber room.**

**Our hostess just smiled. "You have good taste, my dear. I'm so glad you've come. My name is C.C."**

**The animals in the corner cage started squealing. They must've been guinea pigs, from the sound of them.**

**We introduced ourselves to C.C. She looked me over with a twinge of disapproval, as if I'd failed some kind of test. Immediately, I felt bad. For some reason, I really wanted to please this lady.**

**"Oh, dear," she sighed. "You do need my help."**

"Oh thank gods, Percy, did you hear that? Someone's going to help you out with your 'problem'," Thalia said.

"Wait, what problem?" Percy looked offended.

"Oh, you didn't know? Well, I guess I shouldn't tell you,"

"What problem!"

"What problem?" Nico whispered to Thalia.

She whispered back "I don't know, I was just kidding,"

**"Ma'am?" I asked.**

**C.C. called to the lady in the business suit. "Hylla, take Annabeth on a tour, will you? Show her what we have available. The clothing will need to change. And the hair, my goodness. We will do a full image consultation after I've spoken with this young gentleman."**

**"But ..." Annabeth's voice sounded hurt. "What's wrong with my hair?"**

**C.C. smiled benevolently. "My dear, you are lovely. Really! But you're not showing off yourself or your talents at all. So much wasted potential!"**

"Oh, I'll let my fist show you you're wasted potential, C.C," Athena spat at the book.

Travis whistled. "Your mother is scary, Annie,"

"Thank you. And call me Annie one more time; you'll never see the light of day again."

"Like mother like daughter," Poseidon relaxed on his throne, amused.

"That's right, we need some action!" Ares yelled.

**"Wasted?"**

**"Well, surely you're not happy the way you are! My goodness, there's not a single person who is. **

Athena narrowed her eyes. "This lady is crazy,"

"I know right? I mean, I'm happy the way I am," Aphrodite looked into her hand mirror happily.

**But don't worry. We can improve anyone here at the spa. **

"Not me," Aphrodite said in a sing-song voice. "I bet she's the one who needs the improving,"

"I know–"

"Okay, as much fun as watching all you people rant about how horrible C.C is, I'd rather not waste my time. Amphitrite is already mad as it is." Poseidon said. "Now start reading,"

Athena huffed.

**Hylla will show you what I mean. You, my dear, need to unlock your true self!"**

**Annabeth's eyes glowed with longing. I'd never seen her so much at a loss for words. "But ... what about Percy?"**

"I'm telling you! I was possessed," Annabeth claimed.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. When you feel in a daze, and that everything she says is right," Percy said.

"Sure, like she's a sorcerer out to get you because of some grudge you aren't even apart of," Hera rolled her eyes.

Percy, Nico and Annabeth looked at each other, trying to stifle their laughs at how similar Hera's sarcastic comment was to the truth.

**"Oh, definitely," C.C. said, giving me a sad look. "Percy requires my personal attention. He needs much more work than you."**

Thalia laughed. "How right she was,"

"Wow Thals, that was really hurtful," Percy remarked.

**Normally if somebody had told me that, I would've gotten angry, but when C.C. said it, I felt sad. I'd disappointed pointed her. I had to figure out how to do better.**

**The guinea pigs squealed like they were hungry.**

"Why are there guinea pigs in a spa and resort?" Athena asked.

"Ew, I am never going to that spa and resort," Aphrodite said. "Not that I needed to,"

"I'll never look at a guinea pig the same way again," Percy sighed dejectedly.

Annabeth snorted. "I'll always remember you're cute face and huge eyes,"

"What are you guys talking about?" Connor asked what everyone was thinking.

"You'll find soon," Annabeth grinned.

**"Well ..." Annabeth said. "I suppose ..."**

**"Right this way, dear," Hylla said. And Annabeth allowed herself to be led away into the waterfall-laced gardens of the spa.**

"No, Annabeth! You were too young to die!" Connor joked.

"I'm right here," Annabeth pointed out.

"Yeah, but I was talking to the book Annabeth,"

"Now that's just plain creepy." Thalia raised her eyebrows.

**C.C. took my arm and guided me toward the mirrored wall. "You see, Percy ... to unlock your potential, you'll need serious help. The first step is admitting that you're not happy the way you are."**

Demeter snorted. "She sounds like some therapist,"

"Well… Maybe she's a therapist in disguise as a psycho lady who just so happens to own a spa." Apollo suggested.

"I think that sounds like a terrific occupation for her," Poseidon said. "As long as she's not harmful,"

**I fidgeted in the front of the mirror. I hated thinking about my appearance—like the first zit that had cropped up on my nose at the beginning of the school year, or the fact that my two front teeth weren't perfectly even, or that my hair never stayed down straight.**

Everyone looked towards Percy, who began fidgeting.

"Well, I guess you've really changed," Hestia said.

"Though you're hair still sticks up," Thalia smiled.

**C.C.'s voice brought all of these things to mind, as if she were passing me under a microscope. And my clothes were not cool. I knew that.**

**Who cares? Part of me thought. But standing in front of C.C.'s mirror, it was hard to see anything good in myself.**

"It's her cursed mirror! IT'S CURSED! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES," Nico screamed, making Dionysus smirk.

Percy looked towards Connor and Travis. "We still don't forgive you for poisoning Nico,"

"What?" Connor feigned shock. "We didn't do anything,"

"Besides, he's not even hyper anymore. He's… just not emo. You should be thanking us, of course, if we did give him sugar, which we didn't," Travis quickly said.

"You guys are weird,"

**"There, there," C.C. consoled. "How about we try ... this."**

**She snapped her fingers and a sky-blue curtain rolled down over the mirror. **

"Woah, it's magic!" Nico said in awe.

"Nico, you have the attention span of a goldfish," Percy told him.

"Kelp Head, what do you expect? We all have ADHD," Thalia said.

**It shimmered like the fabric on her loom.**

**"What do you see?" C.C. asked.**

**I looked at the blue cloth, not sure what she meant. "I don't—"**

**Then it changed colors. I saw myself—a reflection, but not a reflection. **

"Is it a reflection or is it not?" Hera demanded to know.

"I'm pretty sure I'm about to explain," Percy said impatiently, motioning for Hestia to continue reading.

**Shimmering there on the cloth was a cooler version of Percy Jackson—with just the right clothes, a confident smile on my face. My teeth were straight. No zits. A perfect tan. More athletic. Maybe a couple of inches taller. It was me, without the faults.**

**"Aw, but you wouldn't be you without the faults," Annabeth said.**

**"You're so sappy," Percy grinned.**

**"Maybe I should punch you and be violent instead, how bout it?"**

**"Well, you'd be back to your old self, but I'd be a very bruised Percy,"**

**"Whoa," I managed.**

**"Do you want that?" C.C. asked. "Or shall I try a different—"**

**"No," I said. "That's ... that's amazing. Can you really—"**

**"I can give you a full makeover," C.C. promised.**

Poseidon had a bad feeling about this.

**"What's the catch?" I said. "I have to like ... eat a special diet?"**

**"Oh, it's quite easy," C.C. said. "Plenty of fresh fruit, a mild exercise program, and of course ... this."**

**"That's what she calls easy? I call that torture!" Connor exclaimed.**

"I know right, I mean exercising? Eating fruit?" Travis sighed.

"What's wrong with fruit? They're yummy!" Demeter looked offended.

"Connor, Travis," Annabeth said. "You do know that you exercise everyday from sword practice and your pranks?"

"We prefer not to call that 'exercising,'"

**She stepped over to her wet bar and filled a glass with water. Then she ripped open a drink-mix packet and poured in some red powder. The mixture began to glow. When it faded, the drink looked just like a strawberry milk shake.**

**"One of these, substituted for a regular meal," C.C. said. "I guarantee you'll see results immediately."**

"That's what they always say, but they're all just liars," Aphrodite pointed out.

**"How is that possible?"**

**She laughed. "Why question it? I mean, don't you want the perfect you right away?"**

**Something nagged at the back of my mind. "Why are there no guys at this spa?"**

"That's true, I mean like, guys can go to the spa too," Aphrodite commented.

"Yes, but we prefer to do cool things, like play with dead people and punish them." Hades said.

"No, I'm pretty sure that's just you," Dionysus rolled his eyes.

"Well, that's because only cool people play with dead people," Hades crossed his arms.

"Yay, we're cool!" Nico exclaimed.

**"Oh, but there are," C.C. assured me. "You'll meet them quite soon. Just try the mixture. You'll see."**

**I looked at the blue tapestry, at the reflection of me, but not me.**

"Seriously, you need to be more straightforward," Apollo said.

Percy said "Maybe you need to be less straightforward so that I would seem more straightforward,"

"What?" Apollo groaned. "You're giving me a headache with all your senseless talking,"

**"Now, Percy," C.C. chided. "The hardest part of the makeover process is giving up control. You have to decide: do you want to trust your judgment about what you should be, or my judgment?"**

"Yes, what shall you do Perseus Jackson? What is your decision that will decide your fate?" Nico said in an ominous voice.

"Shut up," Percy laughed.

**My throat felt dry. I heard myself say, "Your judgment."**

"Oi, you have sealed your fate," Nico shook his head mournfully.

"Not helping the situation here," Poseidon said nervously.

**C.C. smiled and handed me the glass. I lifted it to my lips.**

**It tasted just like it looked—like a strawberry milk shake. **

**Almost immediately a warm feeling spread through my gut: pleasant at first, then painfully hot, searing, as if the mixture were coming to a boil inside of me.**

**I doubled over and dropped the cup. "What have you ... what's happening?"**

"What did I tell you twits? The food came back to bite you on the butt! I told you it would contaminate you if you weren't careful," Artemis scolded.

"Thanks a lot Percy, You made Artemis right… again," Apollo said.

"Hm, how does food bite your butt if they don't have mouths?" Nico asked.

**"Don't worry, Percy," C.C. said. "The pain will pass. Look! As I promised. Immediate results."**

**Something was horribly wrong.**

"No duh Sherlock," Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Keep diggin' Holmes," Percy laughed back.

**The curtain dropped away, and in the mirror I saw my hands shriveling, curling, growing long delicate claws. **

"Wait, what's going on!" Poseidon stood up, looking at Percy in panic.

Percy rubbed his neck. "Uh…"

**"What's–"**

"Barnacle Beard, sit down so we can find out," Athena called irritatedly.

Reluctantly, Poseidon sat down.

**Fur sprouted on my face, under my shirt, in every uncomfortable place you can imagine. My teeth felt too heavy in my mouth. My clothes were getting too big, or C.C. was getting too tall—no, I was shrinking.**

Poseidon yelped. "You're shrinking!"

"Yes, no need to repeat things," Hera said.

**In one awful flash, I sank into a cavern of dark cloth. I was buried in my own shirt. I tried to run but hands grabbed me—hands as big as I was. I tried to scream for help, but all that came out of my mouth was, "Reeet, reeet, reeet!"**

"Haha, well that's one way to shut you up," Hermes joked.

"Hey!"

"Kidding, just kidding,"

**The giant hands squeezed me around the middle, lifting me into the air. I struggled and kicked with legs and arms that seemed much too stubby, and then I was staring, horrified, into the enormous face of C.C.**

"No! Let him go," Poseidon wailed.

**"Perfect!" her voice boomed. I squirmed in alarm, but she only tightened her grip around my furry belly. "See, Percy? You've unlocked your true self!"**

"Seriously? I liked the old Percy better. Atleast I didn't have a furry thing as a cousin," Thalia said.

"Thanks, that's the best compliment I've gotten all day from you," Percy rolled his eyes.

**She held me up to the mirror, and what I saw made me scream in terror, "Reeet, reeet, reeet!" There was C.C., beautiful and smiling, holding a fluffy, bucktoothed creature with tiny claws and white and orange fur. When I twisted, so did the furry critter in the mirror. I was ... I was ...**

**"A guinea pig," **

There was a loud silence, than suddenly, everyone (except Poseidon and Percy) burst out laughing.

"You… A guinea pig!" Travis choked out, before joining his brother in laughing again.

Percy frowned. "Being a guinea pig was horrible. But on the bright side, I've become quite fond of celery sticks,"

All the guys looked at Percy in horror. "Oh no, what have they done to you. You've turned… healthy!"

"Shut up, you little fatheads," Thalia laughed.

"We're not fat! We just love to eat greasy and oily food," Connor said.

"Yeah, and I called you fat because you eat so much fattening food,"

"Well, we burn it all off from training anyways," Percy waved her off.

**C.C. said. "Lovely, aren't you? Men are pigs, Percy Jackson. **

"She's right there, but what she did was just plain wrong," Artemis said flatly.

"Don't you sometimes turn men into jackalopes?"

"Yeah, but they were annoying me," Artemis shrugged.

"Women are so scary these days," Connor stared warily at the goddesses, who looked like they were ready to spring into battle any minute.

**I used to turn them into real pigs, but they were so smelly and large and difficult to keep. **

"Pigs are smelly," Aphrodite said it like she just realised it was true.

**Not much different than they were before, really. Guinea pigs are much more convenient! Now come, and meet the other men."**

**"Reeet!" I protested, trying to scratch her, but C.C. squeezed me so tight I almost blacked out.**

Poseidon kept fidgeting, even though he knew his son would be alright.

**"None of that, little one," she scolded, "or I'll feed you to the owls.**

"That's pretty ironic considering Athena's animal is an owl," Aphrodite said.

Athena smiled creepily while Percy shivered.

Go into the cage like a good little pet.

"NEVER! Let's cause a guinea pig revolt!" Nico exclaimed.

"Yes, maybe if you gather enough guinea pigs, you could eat all the celery sticks so that they'd starve to death," Thalia said sarcastically.

"That's a good idea!"

Everyone rolled their eyes, but laughed.

**Tomorrow, if you behave, you'll be on your way. There is always a classroom in need of a new guinea pig."**

**My mind was racing as fast as my tiny little heart. **

"Huh, that must be pretty fast," Nico said.

**I needed to get back to my clothes, which were lying in a heap on the floor. If I could do that, I could get Riptide out of my pocket and ... And what? I couldn't uncap the pen. Even if I did, I couldn't hold the sword.**

"That's pretty sad," Hades admitted.

"Then again, that'd be a funny sight to see," Travis cracked up.

**I squirmed helplessly as C.C. brought me over to the guinea pig cage and opened the wire door.**

**"Meet my discipline problems, Percy," she warned. "They'll never make good classroom pets, but they might teach you some manners. Most of them have been in this cage for three hundred years. **

"Ugh, that's horrible. That's guinea pig abuse!" Demeter said.

"Yes, the guinea pig police should arrest them," Hades said in a serious tone, making everyone laugh.

**If you don't want to stay with them permanently, I'd suggest you—"**

**Annabeth's voice called: "Miss C.C.?"**

**C.C. cursed in Ancient Greek. She plopped me into the cage and closed the door. I squealed and clawed at the bars, but it was no good. **

Poseidon silently cursed C.C. "Drat!"

"Who the Hades says 'drat' these days," Zeus rolled his eyes.

"I do, now don't question my rad words," Poseidon huffed.

"I'll question them all I want. And btw, no one says 'rad' anymore,"

"Well, who says 'btw',"

"You two just live to argue with each other don't you," Hades said.

"Shut up," they said in unison.

**I watched as C.C. hurriedly kicked my clothes under the loom just as Annabeth came in.**

**I almost didn't recognize her. She was wearing a sleeveless silk dress like C.C.'s, only white. Her blond hair was newly washed and combed and braided with gold. Worst of all, she was wearing makeup, **

**which I never thought Annabeth would be caught dead in. I mean, she looked good. Really good. **

**I probably would've been tongue-tied if I could've said any thing except reet, reet, reet. But there was also something totally wrong about it. It just wasn't Annabeth.**

**She looked around the room and frowned. "Where's Percy?"**

**I squealed up a storm, **

"Hey, you can't squeal up a storm, only I can squeal– erm, conjure up a storm," Zeus glared at a few who snickered.

Percy put up his hands in surrender, but soon began laughing.

**but she didn't seem to hear me.**

**C.C. smiled. "He's having one of our treatments, my dear. Not to worry. You look wonderful! What did you think of your tour?"**

**Annabeth's eyes brightened. "Your library is amazing!"**

"Only a child of Athena would start talking about the library," Ares said while sharpening his sword.

"That's because we read books," Athena sneered. "Unlike you people,"

"Hey! We read books too," Hermes grinned. "We're reading one right now,"

"Nice one!" They guys high-fived each other while the goddesses rolled their eyes.

**"Yes, indeed," C.C. said, "The best knowledge of the past three millennia. Anything you want to study, anything you want to be, my dear."**

**"An architect?"**

**"Pah!" C.C. said. **

**"You, my dear, have the makings of a sorceress. Like me."**

"Circe," Athena gritted her teeth. "C.C stands for Circe. Turning men into animals, being a sorceress, I should've known,"

"Why do smart people always mutter to themselves?" Connor asked.

"Because smart people are weird. Take for example, Athena," Poseidon joked.

"You only say that because you can't come up with a better explanation," Athena shot back.

**Annabeth took a step back. "A sorceress?"**

**"Yes, my dear." C.C. held up her hand. A flame appeared in her palm and danced across her fingertips. "My mother is Hecate, the goddess of magic. I know a daughter of Athena when I see one. We are not so different, you and I. **

Connor scoffed. "Annabeth and C.C. couldn't be more opposite. Annabeth doesn't turn guys into animals–"

"And I'm thankful for that," Percy said.

"–While Circe does. She's violent while Annabeth is… violent. Oh, maybe they have more in common than I thought," Connor said, making Annabeth whack him in the head.

**We both seek knowledge. We both admire greatness. Neither of us needs to stand in the shadow of men."**

**"I—I don't understand."**

"Annabeth, I'm proud of you." Connor said.

"Why?"

"You finally understand what it feels like to be us. To not understand what you say half the time," Travis said, making everyone smile.

"Oh no, I'm becoming dumb like you guys, this is a catastrophe," Annabeth mocked.

"That, my dear, is an insult to our pride," The brothers said in unison.

"What pride," Thalia joked.

**Again, I squealed my best, trying to get Annabeth's attention, but she either couldn't hear me or didn't think the noises were important. **

"The latter," Annabeth said. "Guinea pigs weren't high on my list of important concerns to pay attention to,"

**Meanwhile, the other guinea pigs were emerging from their hutch to check me out. I didn't think it was possible for guinea pigs to look mean, but these did. **

**There were half a dozen, with dirty fur and cracked teeth and beady red eyes. They were covered with shavings and smelled like they really had been in here for three hundred years, without getting their cage cleaned.**

Aphrodite shivered. "Ewww…"

"For once, I agree with Aphrodite," Athena looked repulsed.

**"Stay with me," C.C. was telling Annabeth. "Study with me. You can join our staff, become a sorceress, learn to bend others to your will. You will become immortal!"**

"NO! Don't go to the dark side," Connor begged. "We have cookies here!"

"I want cookies," Apollo sighed hungrily.

"I swear, all boys think about is food and being dramatic," Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"ANNABETH SWORE!" Nico yelled in a tattle-tale voice.

"Nico. Shut up."

**"But—"**

**"You are too intelligent, my dear," C.C. said. "You know better than to trust that silly camp for heroes. How many great female half-blood heroes can you name?"**

**"Um, Atalanta, Amelia Earhart—"**

"I think it was a rhetorical question," Clarisse said.

"When you're a daughter of Athena, rhetorical questions don't exist," Hephaestus grinned.

**"Bah! Men get all the glory." C.C. closed her fist and extinguished the magic flame. "The only way to power for women is sorcery. Medea, Calypso, now there were powerful women! And me, of course. The greatest of all."**

**"You ... C.C. ... Circe!"**

**"Yes, my dear."**

**Annabeth backed up, and Circe laughed. "You need not worry. I mean you no harm."**

**"What have you done to Percy?"**

**"Only helped him realize his true form."**

"Okay, that's really mean," Percy pouted.

**Annabeth scanned the room. Finally she saw the cage, and me scratching at the bars, all the other guinea pigs crowding around me. Her eyes went wide.**

**"Forget him," Circe said. "Join me and learn the ways of sorcery."**

Thalia scoffed confidently. "Yeah, the day that happens is the day Nico rides a pony."

"Ponies!" Nico said, as Dionysus snickered.

"What are you laughing about?" Artemis asked a suspicious looking Dionysus.

"Nothing," No one noticed that Dionysus kept glancing at Nico.

**"But—"**

**"Your friend will be well cared for. He'll be shipped to a wonderful new home on the mainland. The kindergartners will adore him.**

"I don't like kindergartners! They're so wild," Percy shivered.

"Just imagine, you as a kindergartner with ADHD. Oh, how bad I feel for the teacher," Thalia said.

**Meanwhile, you will be wise and powerful. You will have all you ever wanted."**

**Annabeth was still staring at me, but she had a dreamy expression on her face. **

"No Annabeth! You can't switch to the dark side. Why, why did you betray us all?" Travis wailed in despair.

"Oh stop your dramatics," Clarisse smirked.

"He can't help it. It runs in the family," Hermes chimed in, causing everyone to protest.

**She looked the same way I had when Circe enchanted me into drinking the guinea pig milk shake. **

**I squealed and scratched, trying to warn her to snap out of it, but I was absolutely powerless.**

"Powerless Percy? That'll help him deflate his ego," Thalia snickered.

"For the last time, I don't have a big ego!" Percy sighed.

"We know, it's just fun to tease you," Clarisse said.

**"Let me think about it," Annabeth murmured. "Just... give me a minute alone. To say good-bye."**

**"Of course, my dear," Circe cooed. "One minute. Oh ... and so you have absolute privacy ..." She waved her hand and iron bars slammed down over the windows. **

"Privacy my butt, it's probably so that you don't run away," Travis rolled his eyes.

"Duh,"

**She swept out of the room and I heard the locks on the door click shut behind her. The dreamy look melted off Annabeth's face.**

"Wow, you're a pretty good pretender," Connor complimented.

"Thanks," Annabeth said proudly.

**She rushed over to my cage. "All right, which one are you?"**

**I squealed, but so did all the other guinea pigs. Annabeth looked desperate. She scanned the room and spotted the cuff of my jeans sticking out from under the loom.**

**She rushed over and rummaged through my pockets.**

"Hurry, I don't want my son to be an animal forever," Poseidon fidgeted impatiently.

"She's going as fast as she can," Athena snapped. "Now shut up,"

"No,"

"Why not!"

"Because you told me to,"

"UGH, you're so annoying!" Athena huffed while Aphrodite giggled.

**But instead of bringing out Riptide, she found the bottle of Hermes multivitamins and started struggling with the cap.**

Apollo snickered. "That'd be funny if she couldn't open the cap,"

"Fail,"

Annabeth glared at everyone who was laughing, making them stop.

**I wanted to scream at her that this wasn't the time for taking supplements! **

"Hey, don't say that. Vitamins are good for you!" Demeter said.

"But cereal's better," Ares lied.

"Exactly," Demeter beamed.

"Everyone's always hating on the vitamins," Hermes grumbled.

**She had to draw the sword!**

**She popped a lemon chewable in her mouth just as the door flew open and Circe came back in, flanked by two of her business-suited attendants.**

**"Well," Circe sighed, "how fast a minute passes. What is your answer, my dear?"**

**"This," Annabeth said, and she drew her bronze knife.**

"YEAH, SKIN HER ALIVE!" Ares jumped up.

"Oh my gods, so violent," Aphrodite frowned. "Besides, blood doesn't really look that pretty on clothes and they leave stains which are really hard to get out,"

**The sorceress stepped back, but her surprise quickly passed. She sneered. "Really, little girl, a knife against my magic? Is that wise?"**

"Everything Annabeth does is wise, most of the time,"

"Most of the time?" Annabeth raised her eyebrows.

"Yes, most of the time,"

"Fine, I'll accept it. For now."

**Circe looked back at her attendants, who smiled. They raised their hands as if preparing to cast a spell.**

**Run! I wanted to tell Annabeth, but all I could make were rodent noises. The other guinea pigs squealed in terror and scuttled around the cage. I had the urge to panic and hide, too, but I had to think of something! I couldn't stand to lose Annabeth the way I'd lost Tyson.**

"Wait… how did you get out if…"

"Athena always has a plan," Annabeth beamed.

"Mhmm, Annabeth always has a plane," Nico giggled.

"What the Hades?" Athena said.

Hades' eye twitched.

"See what I did? I added the 'e' to 'plan' to make 'plane'!"

"Haha, no it's not funny at all. You ruined a perfectly good motto with your weirdness," Annabeth wrinkled her nose.

**"What will Annabeth's makeover be?" Circe mused. "Something small and ill-tempered. I know ... a shrew!"**

"What's a shrew?" Connor asked.

"A shrew is any of various small, chiefly insectivorous mammals of the family Soricidae, resembling a mouse but having a long pointed snout and small eyes and ears," Annabeth rattled off like she was born to be a human dictionary.

"So… An animal?"

Annabeth sighed hopelessly. "Yes, an animal,"

**Blue fire coiled from her fingers curling like serpents around Annabeth.**

Athena sucked in a breath.

**I watched, horror-struck, but nothing happened. Annabeth was still Annabeth, only angrier.**

"Wh-what happened? How?" Lots of people looked at Annabeth in confusion.

Athena gasped. "The vitamins!"

Hermes let out a mad laugh. "TOLD YOU MY VITAMINS ARE AWESOME! HAHA,"

"Wow, a little obsessed there, aren't ya," Hades said.

**She leaped for ward and stuck the point of her knife against Circe's neck. "How about turning me into a panther instead? One that has her claws at your throat!"**

**"How!" Circe yelped.**

**Annabeth held up my bottle of vitamins for the sorceress to see.**

**Circe howled in frustration. "Curse Hermes and his multivitamins! **

"Hey!" Hermes yelled indignantly. "Leave me and my vitamins alone!"

"It's okay. She's just a big bully 'because she's jealous of your vitamins!" Connor and Travis said in unison.

Hermes smiled. "Yes, I like that explanation."

**Those are such a fad! They do nothing for you."**

"I don't like her," Hermes said disgustingly.

"I'm pretty sure none of us do," Travis said.

**"Turn Percy back to a human or else!" Annabeth said.**

"Yes, that's right, threaten her!" Everyone cheered.

"Either you guys really hate her, or you're just normally violent," Annabeth said.

"It's both," Demeter chimed in.

**"I can't!"**

**"Then you asked for it."**

"Yes, own her ass," Ares chuckled darkly.

"Wow, that's creepy as Hades," Dionysus said.

"Hey!" Hades protested. "I'm not creepy!"

"Sure," Poseidon said unbelievingly.

**Circe's attendants stepped forward, but their mistress said, "Get back! She's immune to magic until that cursed vitamin wears off."**

**Annabeth dragged Circe over to the guinea pig cage, knocked the top off, and poured the rest of the vitamins inside.**

"Muhahaha, you're plans have been foiled, oh mighty foul sorceress," Nico chuckled darkly.

"Nico is really getting creepier by the minute," Percy said.

"Yes, maybe he's going crazy," Dionysus looked like he just shared an inside joke.

"Or you're crazy," Hermes told Dionysus.

**"No!" Circe screamed.**

**I was the first to get a vitamin, but all the other guinea pigs scuttled out, too, and checked out this new food.**

**The first nibble, and I felt all fiery inside. I gnawed at the vitamin until it stopped looking so huge, and the cage got smaller, and then suddenly, bang! The cage exploded. I was sitting on the floor, a human again—somehow back in my regular clothes, thank the gods—**

"How embarrassing that would've been without your clothes," Everyone laughed, making Percy blush.

**with six other guys who all looked disoriented, blinking and shaking wood shavings out of their hair.**

**"No!" Circe screamed. "You don't understand! Those are the worst!"**

"Too late," Connor said like an innocent kid would.

**One of the men stood up—a huge guy with a long tangled pitch-black beard and teeth the same color. He wore mismatched clothes of wool and leather, knee-length boots, and a floppy felt hat. The other men were dressed more simply—in breeches and stained white shirts. All of them were barefoot.**

**"Argggh!" bellowed the big man. "What's the witch done t'me!"**

**"No!" Circe moaned.**

**Annabeth gasped. "I recognize you! Edward Teach, son of Ares?"**

Ares blinked. "Oooh-kaay."

Athena rolled her eyes. "You're articulate aren't you,"

"What's articulate mean?

"It's when–"

"Okay, nevermind, I don't really care," Travis said while Annabeth glared.

**"Aye, lass," the big man growled. "Though most call me Blackbeard! And there's the sorceress what captured us, lads. Run her through, and then I mean to find me a big bowl of celery! Arggggh!"**

Some people snickered. "That sure is threatening,"

**Circe screamed. She and her attendants ran from the room, chased by the pirates.**

**Annabeth sheathed her knife and glared at me.**

**"Thanks ..." I faltered. "I'm really sorry—"**

**Before I could figure out how to apologize for being such an idiot,**

"It's okay. If you had to apologize for all the times you were being an idiot, it'd never end," Thalia pointed out.

Percy rolled his eyes.

**she tackled me with a hug, then pulled away just as quickly. **

**"I'm glad you're not a guinea pig."**

**"Me, too." I hoped my face wasn't as red as it felt.**

**She undid the golden braids in her hair.**

**"Come on, Seaweed Brain," she said. "We have to get away while Circe's distracted."**

**We ran down the hillside through the terraces, past screaming spa workers and pirates ransacking the resort. **

Connor and Travis sighed. "I want to do that!"

**Blackbeard's men broke the tiki torches for the luau, threw herbal wraps into the swimming pool, and kicked over tables of sauna towels.**

**I almost felt bad letting the unruly pirates out, but I guessed they deserved something more entertaining than the exercise wheel after being cooped up in a cage for three centuries.**

**"Which ship?" Annabeth said as we reached the docks.**

**I looked around desperately. We couldn't very well take our rowboat. We had to get off the island fast, but what else could we use? A sub? A fighter jet? I couldn't pilot any of those things. And then I saw it.**

**"There," I said.**

**Annabeth blinked. "But—"**

**"I can make it work."**

**"How?"**

**I couldn't explain. I just somehow knew an old sailing vessel was the best bet for me. **

**I grabbed Annabeth's hand**

**and pulled her toward the three-mast ship. Painted on its prow was the name that I would only decipher later: Queen Anne's Revenge.**

**"Argggh!" Blackbeard yelled somewhere behind us. "Those scalawags are a-boarding me vessel! Get 'em, lads!"**

"Hey, who are you calling scalawags!" Poseidon said to the book.

"Do you even know what that means?" Athena asked.

"No, but it sounds bad,"

"A person who behaves badly but in an amusingly mischievous rather than harmful way." Annabeth explained.

"Ohh…"

**"We'll never get going in time!" Annabeth yelled as we climbed aboard.**

**I looked around at the hopeless maze of sail and ropes. The ship was in great condition for a three-hundred-year-old vessel, but it would still take a crew of fifty several hours to get underway. We didn't have several hours. I could see the pirates running down the stairs, waving tiki torches and sticks of celery.**

"OH NO!" Connor gasped. "Watch out for those celery sticks, they're torture!"

"I know," Travis agreed. "They… burn, and hurt much more than those useless tiki torches,"

"Yeah, pure agony," Thalia rolled her eyes.

**I closed my eyes and concentrated on the waves lapping against the hull, the ocean currents, the winds all around me. **

Poseidon began smiling widely.

**Suddenly, the right word appeared in my mind. "Mizzenmast!" I yelled.**

"Mizzenmast!" Connor yelled.

"Mizzenmast Mizzenmast!" Nico exclaimed back.

"Okay, what?" Everyone looked quizzically at the two.

"I'm trying to communicate with him by using the word," Nico said.

"Okay, no. Be quiet before I tape your mouth and hang you on a pole," Thalia said.

**Annabeth looked at me like I was nuts, **

"Because I thought you were," Annabeth said.

**but in the next second, the air was filled with whistling sounds of ropes being snapped taut, canvases unfurling, and wooden pulleys creaking.**

Everyone looked in awe. "How…"

"Son of sea god skills," Percy grinned proudly.

**Annabeth ducked as a cable flew over her head and wrapped itself around the bowsprit. "Percy, how ..."**

**I didn't have an answer, but I could feel the ship responding to me as if it were part of my body. **

"You're one with the ship,"

"I wish I could take you apart and see what makes you have these magnificent powers, but sadly, it doesn't work like that," Athena sighed.

Percy and Poseidon looked at Athena warily.

**I willed the sails to rise as easily as if I were flexing my arm. I willed the rudder to turn.**

**The Queen Anne's Revenge lurched away from the dock, and by the time the pirates arrived at the water's edge, we were already underway, sailing into the Sea of Monsters.**

"Done," Hestia said.

"Finally, FOOD, IM SO HUNGRY!" Apollo ran out the door, followed by a few other people.

"I guess this calls for a break…" Athena grumbled.

"I've got to go to Atlantis, be back soon everyone," Poseidon disappeared.


	15. Chapter 15

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Everyone was annoyed, but for different reasons. Most of the people just wanted Athena to stop tapping her foot while Athena was irritated that Poseidon hasn't arrived yet.

"Honestly Athena, why'd you threaten us to be here at…" Hermes looked at his watch. "7:36 pm sharp if we haven't even started yet. I have a lot of mails to catch up with."

"Old Barnacle Beard isn't here yet," Athena stomped her foot.

Suddenly a bright flash appeared, and 2 figures were left.

"Finally, you're late! Kelp Head, ever heard of… Oh, Hi Amphitrite,"

A beautiful young lady gave a little wave. "Hello Lady Athena,"

"May I ask why you're here?" Hera asked.

"Amphitrite here doesn't believe me when I say that I'm not spending time with mortals," Poseidon rolled his eyes.

"You can't blame her," Hephaestus shrugged.

Amphitrite's eyes scanned the room, until she reached Percy. Everyone (except Percy, Amphitrite and Poseidon) backed out of the room cautiously, sensing the awkwardness.

As soon as the doors closed, Percy stopped staring cross-eyed at his tongue and looked up. "Where's every– Oh… crap,"

"Poseidon, come!" Zeus yelled from the other room.

Poseidon looked relieved to leave. "Bye Percy" He said, than mouthed 'Good luck,' and ran out the door.

Percy sighed as the door closed. His dad just left him alone with a furious lady who's capable of frying him. How pleasant.

"You said you're name was Peter,"

"Yeah, I lied." What? Percy felt like being honest.

Amphitrite walked around him in a circle, like a predator inspecting its prey. "So, you're Percy Jackson,"

He nervously nodded.

"Son of… Poseidon," Amphitrite said in distaste. "You're father is just another cheater. He's a jerk,"

"Umm… So, why are you telling me this?" Percy just had to ask.

Amphitrite abruptly stopped pacing. "I don't know,"

"Lady Amphitrite, I didn't choose to be a son of Poseidon." Percy swallowed the big lump in his throat and carried on. "And quite frankly, I don't think you should judge me just because of who my parents are. I did nothing wrong… yet." He felt like adding the 'yet' part because let's face it; he's bound to upset her sometime.

Just then, Poseidon burst through the door, panting heavily. "No one's dead? Percy, you've still got all 2 arms and legs?"

"Yeah, why are you back?"

"I just remembered that I left you in here alone with…" Poseidon trailed off as Amphitrite raised her eyebrows.

"Uh… Well, anyways, nice to meet you," Percy gave a wave, and ran out the door, leaving Amphitrite looking at Percy in wonder.

Percy walked out feeling good that he stood up to her, but he felt much better that he didn't get hurt. Not even a tiny bit. Hopefully, they could start on a new slate, because having another goddess annoyed of him probably isn't a very bright thing to do. He passed by Athena, who was looking at him as if she was still deciding what kind of person he was.

Meanwhile…

"Banana and apples, banana and apples! MANGO! MANGO! Banana and apples, banana and apples, PICKLES! PICKLES! Banana and apples!"

"What are you doing?"

"Making a fruit song!" Nico cheered.

"Are pickles even a fruit?" Travis asked.

Connor shrugged as Annabeth shook her head. "They're not,"

"Banana and apples," Nico continued on. "Bananas and apples!"

"ba da dum," Travis added into the background.

"What is this, Glee club?" Thalia groaned in frustration.

"Why yes dear Thalia, it is," Nico said in an anonymous voice. "Care to join?"

"Connor…"

"I swear, we didn't give him anymore sugar!" Connor exclaimed, as Thalia stared accusingly at him.

"Then why is he all hyper again!?"

"Maybe he's bipolar?" Travis suggested.

Dionysus couldn't help but laugh at the scene. Bipolar, really? That's the best excuse he could come with?

Over by the corner…

Apollo placed a pair of professional glasses on the bridge of his nose, and walked towards Hades. "Hello Mr. Hades, how are you today,"

"Apollo," Hades rolled his eyes. "What are you doing?"

"I am you're therapist for today."

"What? I don't need a therapist, I'm a god!"

"I hear you're in depression," Apollo put his hands lightly on Hades' shoulder.

"Where did you hear that?"

"We all know the truth. You don't need to deny it anymore,"

"What?"

"The first step is admitting the truth. Then, you'll be on the road to recovery."

"Apollo, did you get dropped on the head? I'm the lord of the underworld, where all things gloomy reside. I hang out with dead people. How am I not depressed?" Hades deadpanned.

"There there, buddy. You're going to be alright," Apollo wiped a fake tear and hugged him.

"Get off me!" Hades yelled.

"I'll be there for you!" Apollo hugged him even tighter.

"Ugh, you gods, always so weird!" Hades managed to pry Apollo off, and ran away, only to bump into Hermes.

"Dr. Apollo got to you, eh?" Hermes said.

"Huh?"

"Yeah, he pegged me as a 'kleptomaniac in need'," Hermes scoffed.

Hades shrugged. "Well, you and your children do like to steal stuff."

"NO, JUST NO! YOU CAN'T AGREE WITH DR. APOLLO! WHAT HAS THIS WORLD COME TO," Hermes exclaimed.

"I'm just saying… maybe if you would stop stealing Cerberus' dog bones whenever you deliver the dead, I would agree with you." Hades pointed out. "Like seriously, what do you do with a 25 foot long dog bone?"

"I just like to steal stuff, okay? I don't have a problem!" Hermes stomped away.

"This is why I stay in the Underworld," Hades continued to grumble how weird everyone is.

At last, Athena managed to rally everyone into the throne room.

"Amphitrite dear, are you staying?"

Amphitrite looked around. "It's okay, I'll be going. Bye everyone," she disappeared and Poseidon let out a weary breath.

"Well, who's reading now?" Zeus asked.

"I will," Hermes volunteered.

**"Annabeth Tries to Swim Home,"**

**I'd finally found something I was really good at.**

"Yay for little Perce, don't you feel proud of yourself now," Travis teased.

"Hey, don't mock me. I can control ships while you can't," Percy stuck out his tongue.

**The Queen Anne's Revenge responded to my every command. I knew which ropes to hoist, which sails to raise, which direction to steer. **

Poseidon stared proudly at his son.

**We plowed through the waves at what I figured was about ten knots. I even understood how fast that was. For a sailing ship, pretty darn fast.**

"Ten knots? Ugh, that's like as fast as an old grandmother limping at the side of a highway," Ares groaned.

"Wow, that sounds like fun," Apollo grinned.

"Sailing a ship?" Artemis asked.

"No, of course not," Apollo said. "Limping at the side of a highway, disguised as a hobo grandmother!"

"Huh…" Hera murmured thoughtfully.

**It all felt perfect—the wind in my face, the waves breaking over the prow.**

**But now that we were out of danger, all I could think about was how much I missed Tyson, and how worried I was about Grover.**

The demigods sighed.

"I miss them," Annabeth said.

**I couldn't get over how badly I'd messed up on Circe's Island. **

"Eh, that wasn't so bad…" Thalia said. "You screw up worse later,"

Percy let out a sigh of relief. "You almost gave me a heart attack. I thought you were actually going to give me a compliment."

The Olympians chuckled at their antics.

**If it hadn't been for Annabeth, I'd still be a rodent, hiding in a hutch with a bunch of cute furry pirates. **

**I thought about what Circe had said: See, Percy? You've unlocked your true self!**

**I still felt changed. Not just because I had a sudden desire to eat lettuce. **

Percy looked from his lettuce to everyone, than back. Looking back and forth, he held his salad protectively close to him.

"Dude, we come in peace," Connor tried to make the alien peace sign with his hand.

"Seriously, we won't steal your salad," Artemis said.

"Fine, but if you guys come within 1 meter, I'm going to stuff it all in my mouth," Percy warned, as everyone rolled their eyes.

**I felt jumpy, like the instinct to be a scared little animal was now a part of me. **

**Or maybe it had always been there. That's what really worried me.**

"You? Scared?" Clarisse scoffed.

"You're always the impulsive one that never thinks about being scared until after you get out alive," Thalia snorted.

Poseidon banged his head on his throne a couple of times. "Not helping! Jeez Percy, can't you atleast try to not get into trouble?"

"Sorry, I don't try though," Percy said. "It just comes naturally. I'm prone to monsters,"

"Hm, more chance of dying. Interesting…" Zeus mused as everyone turned to glare at him.

**We sailed through the night.**

**Annabeth tried to help me keep lookout, but sailing didn't agree with her. After a few hours rocking back and forth, her face turned the color of guacamole **

"Muhahahaha," Nico laughed evilly. "Annabeth is sea sick!"

"Nico, you sound like some mad scientist,"

"Ha, Nico as a scientist? He doesn't even know how ice cream is made,"

"Well, I don't need to; all you need to know is how eat it," Nico protested. "Besides, ice cream is very complicated. I mean, it's cold, but not frozen. It's soft, but hard. It's vanilla, but can also be in chocolate or strawberry. Like, can't people just decide on one thing?"

"Wow, nice ice cream rant there." Hermes whistled.

"I know, I worked hard on it," Nico grinned proudly.

**and she went below to lie in a hammock.**

**I watched the horizon. More than once I spotted monsters. A plume of water as tall as a skyscraper spewed into the moonlight. A row of green spines slithered across the waves—something maybe a hundred feet long, reptilian. I didn't really want to know.**

"Yeah Perce, you don't,"

"Oranges are cool," Percy blinked.

"What?" Everyone looked at him as if he just lost his mind.

"Sorry, I wasn't listening,"

Hera snorted. "Clearly, we could tell from you're answer,"

Percy just smiled sheepishly.

**Once I saw Nereids, the glowing lady spirits of the sea. I tried to wave at them, but they disappeared into the depths, leaving me unsure whether they'd seen me or not.**

"They probably did, but they just thought you weren't cool enough," Thalia said.

"Pfft, i'm so cool,"

"Suure, you keep thinking that,"

**Sometime after midnight, Annabeth came up on deck. We were just passing a smoking volcano island. The sea bubbled and steamed around the shore.**

**"One of the forges of Hephaestus," Annabeth said. "Where he makes his metal monsters."**

"Not monsters. They're my little beloved creations," Hephaestus said wistfully.

"Sheesh, that just makes you sound like some loner," Ares commented.

"Ares, he spends majority of his time in a forge, making metal things to which he interacts with. By definitions, that means he is a loner," Hera informed him.

Hephaestus huffed. "You're a horrible mother, you know that?"

"I've been told that before, by you specifically," Hera waved it off. "But I just know you're jealous,"

"What is there to be jealous about?"

"Everything you don't have,"

"So that means you're bossy, spoiled and arrogant attitude?" Hephaestus said, making everyone snicker until Hera glared at them.

Hermes quickly read on before they continued to banter.

**"Like the bronze bulls?"**

**She nodded. "Go around. Far around."**

**I didn't need to be told twice. We steered clear of the island, and soon it was just a red patch of haze behind us.**

**I looked at Annabeth. "The reason you hate Cyclopes so much ... the story about how Thalia really died. What happened?"**

Thalia sighed, while a lot of the Olympians listened closely, eager to hear the story first hand.

"By the way, I was not dead," Thalia said. "I was just a… tree,"

"Yes you were, Pinecone Face,"

**It was hard to see her expression in the dark.**

**"I guess you deserve to know," she said finally. "The night Grover was escorting us to camp, he got confused, took some wrong turns. **

"This makes me doubt the satyrs taking care of our children," Hermes said.

"Oh please, you guys forget all about us all the time," Connor muttered, so low that no one heard him.

**You remember he told you that once?"**

**I nodded.**

**"Well, the worst wrong turn was into a Cyclops's lair in Brooklyn."**

"Yeah, that was like really bad luck," Thalia said.

"I still blame it on the satyr," Zeus huffed.

"Zeus, get a grip on yourself," Poseidon called.

**"They've got Cyclopes in Brooklyn?" I asked.**

"Really Percy?" Thalia said.

"Okay, no need to comment on my cluelessness," Percy said.

"I call it stupidity,"

"Well, no one asked you,"

"I asked myself,"

"That makes it sound like a loser,"

"Shut up,"

**"You wouldn't believe how many, but that's not the point. This Cyclops, he tricked us. He managed to split us up inside this maze of corridors in an old house in Flatbush. And he could sound like anyone, Percy. Just the way Tyson did aboard the Princess Andromeda. He lured us, one at a time. Thalia thought she was running to save Luke. Luke thought he heard me scream for help. And me ... I was alone in the dark. I was seven years old. I couldn't even find the exit."**

A lot of people looked sad, while others shuddered.

**She brushed the hair out of her face. "I remember finding the main room. There were bones all over the floor. And there were Thalia and Luke and Grover, tied up and gagged, hanging from the ceiling like smoked hams.**

"Yum, I mean… Not that I'm a cannibal or anything," Apollo said quickly.

"Yeah, sure, like we'd believe you." Nico scoffed. "For all we know, you could be a cannibal in disguised as the sun god! And while we're sleeping, you'd slowly creep into our bedrooms and eat us, limb by limb," he mimicked the actions.

"How pleasant," Dionysus deadpanned.

"Eat Dionysus first if you're planning to!" Connor exclaimed.

"What?" Dionysus looked appalled.

"Hold up, no one is eating anyone!" Zeus said. "We're all going to be civilized beings, and calm down."

"But what if–"

"I SAID CALM DOWN!" Zeus screamed.

"Wow, take a chill pill," Poseidon grumbled. And we're the people who need to calm down…

**The Cyclops was starting a fire in the middle of the floor. I drew my knife, but he heard me. He turned and smiled. He spoke, and somehow he knew my dad's voice. I guess he just plucked it out of my mind. He said, 'Now, Annabeth, don't you worry. I love you. You can stay here with me. You can stay forever.'"**

**I shivered. The way she told it—even now, six years later—freaked me out worse than any ghost story I'd ever heard. "What did you do?"**

**"I stabbed him in the foot."**

"You know how brave and vicious that sounds?" Travis said in awe.

"Yeah you're dad is like 'I love you Annabeth, you can stay with me forever,' and you go ahead and stab him in the foot. That's so awesome!" Connor exclaimed.

"Thanks," Annabeth smiled weakly.

**I stared at her. "Are you kidding? You were seven years old and you stabbed a grown Cyclops in the foot?"**

"Yup, that's Annabeth. Fluently reciting the timetable to thirteen at age 5 and stabbing a Cyclops at age 7," Thalia laughed as Athena stared proudly at her daughter.

"You serious?" Nico's jaw dropped. "I only know my timetable up to eleven!"

"Wow Nico, that's sad," Clarisse shook her head.

"But who needs school? Schools are for schmucks!" Nico said. "I mean, they're for people who 'want to do something with their life,'" He made air quotes.

"So… not for you?" Athena asked.

"Exactly! I'm perfectly content with living in Percy's house or something like that,"

"I'm not!" Percy teased and pouted. "I do not want a hobo living in my house. You're annoying enough,"

"Thanks a lot!" Nico stuck his tongue out. "Well, we're demigods, we probably won't even live that long,"

"Stop thinking that way," Hades frowned.

"Well, you can't blame him," Demeter said. "He probably got all the pessimism from you,"

**"Oh, he would've killed me. But I surprised him. It gave me just enough time to run to Thalia and cut the ropes on her hands. She took it from there."**

**"Yeah, but still ... that was pretty brave, Annabeth."**

**She shook her head. "We barely got out alive. I still have nightmares, Percy. The way that Cyclops talked in my father's voice. It was his fault we took so long getting to camp. All the monsters who'd been chasing us had time to catch up. That's really why Thalia died. If it hadn't been for that Cyclops, she'd still be alive today."**

Zeus glared at the book.

"Zeus, you'll burn the book with your intense stare if you keep doing that," Athena said.

"Let it explode for all I care,"

"Um, no. I want to read this book, so stop looking at the book as if it tried to kill you while you were sleeping!" Hera demanded.

**We sat on the deck, watching the Hercules constellation rise in the night sky.**

**"Go below," Annabeth told me at last. "You need some rest."**

**I nodded. My eyes were heavy. But when I got below and found a hammock, it took me a long time to fall asleep. I kept thinking about Annabeth's story. I wondered, if I were her, would I have had enough courage to go on this quest, to sail straight toward the lair of another Cyclops?**

**I didn't dream about Grover.**

"Aw, I guess Grover isn't important enough to dream about anymore huh?" Nico said. "Once someone's not cool enough, you just throw them away like broken toys?"

"NICO!" Everyone yelled, causing him to stop talking. "Seriously, what are you talking about,"

"Oh, so now I'm not allowed to talk anymore huh?" Nico frowned. "You guys think you're sooo much more important, well, you're just a bunch of green frogs trying to eat me!"

"Cannibal frogs… COOL!" Connor and Travis exclaimed in unison while everyone just decided it was wise to ignore Nico for abit.

**Instead I found myself back in Luke's stateroom aboard the Princess Andromeda.**

Poseidon sucked in a breath. "Great."

**The curtains were open. It was nighttime outside. The air swirled with shadows. Voices whispered all around me—spirits of the dead.**

**Beware, they whispered. Traps. Trickery.**

"Such good advice," Hades stared proudly.

"You're complimenting dead misfits. How low can you get?" Hephaestus said.

"Says the god who defends his automatons!" Hades retorted.

**Kronos's golden sarcophagus glowed faintly—the only source of light in the room.**

**A cold laugh startled me. It seemed to come from miles below the ship. You don't have the courage, young one. You can't stop me.**

**I knew what I had to do. I had to open that coffin.**

"In that case, maybe you shouldn't open that coffin," Poseidon suggested.

"Or," Zeus smirked. "Maybe he could hurry up and open the coffin to get it over with,"

Poseidon huffed. "Well why doesn't you daughter do it then,"

"Because she's a TREE!"

Hermes snickered, and soon burst out laughing. "Actually, you're daughter's right here, just a few lines ahead,"

"W-well, too bad," Zeus glared as Poseidon stifled a chuckle.

**I uncapped Riptide. Ghosts whirled around me like a tornado. Beware!**

**My heart pounded. I couldn't make my feet move, but I had to stop Kronos. I had to destroy whatever was in that box.**

**Then a girl spoke right next to me: "Well, Seaweed Brain?"**

A few people snickered.

I looked over, expecting to see Annabeth, but the girl wasn't Annabeth.

**She wore punk-style clothes with silver chains on her wrists. She had spiky black hair, dark eye liner around her stormy blue eyes, and a spray of freckles across her nose. She looked familiar, but I wasn't sure why.**

Thalia raised her eyebrows. "You're dreaming about me?"

"Nooo, I'm dreaming about you're twin from a different dimension, who looks and acts exactly like you," Percy rolled his eyes.

**"Well?" she asked. "Are we going to stop him or not?"**

**I couldn't answer. I couldn't move.**

**The girl rolled her eyes. "Fine. Leave it to me and Aegis."**

"Yes, leave it Thals and Aegis!" Nico exclaimed.

"Sheesh, doesn't you mouth ever get sore from talking so much?" Demeter said.

"Nope, it just keeps going and going and going and–"

"We get the point!" Everyone yelled.

**She tapped her wrist and her silver chains transformed— flattening and expanding into a huge shield. It was silver and bronze, with the monstrous face of Medusa protruding from the center. It looked like a death mask, as if the gorgon's real head had been pressed into the metal. **

"How did you know about Aegis…?" Thalia asked curiously.

"I… I don't know," Percy blinked.

**I didn't know if that was true, or if the shield could really petrify me, but I looked away. Just being near it made me cold with fear. I got a feeling that in a real fight, the bearer of that shield would be almost impossible to beat. Any sane enemy would turn and run.**

"Well, not many people from our world are sane,"

"Like you," Artemis smiled sweetly.

"Exactly," Apollo beamed.

**The girl drew her sword and advanced on the sarcophagus. The shadowy ghosts parted for her, scattering before the terrible aura of her shield.**

**"No," I tried to warn her.**

**But she didn't listen. **

"Typical Thalia," Clarisse chuckled.

**She marched straight up to the sarcophagus and pushed aside the golden lid.**

"How feisty," everyone laughed at Connor's expression when he said it while Artemis scowled.

"Connor, you're a very very weird kid," Thalia said.

"Aren't we all," Connor grinned.

**For a moment she stood there, gazing down at what ever was in the box.**

**The coffin began to glow.**

**"No." The girl's voice trembled. "It can't be."**

"Father," Poseidon muttered, crossing his arms.

**From the depths of the ocean, Kronos laughed so loudly the whole ship trembled.**

**"No!" The girl screamed as the sarcophagus engulfed her in a blast of a golden light.**

"Um…" Zeus looked kind of nervous.

**"Ah!" I sat bolt upright in my hammock.**

**Annabeth was shaking me. "Percy, you were having a nightmare. You need to get up."**

**"Wh—what is it?" I rubbed my eyes. "What's wrong?"**

**"Land," she said grimly. "We're approaching the island of the Sirens."**

Hermes stopped reading, and everyone looked towards Athena.

"What?" she asked.

"Aren't you like… going to sprout a bunch of facts, or say something?"

"No, why?"

"Oh, well… You usually do… but… I uh… Nevermind,"

**I could barely make out the island ahead of us—just a dark spot in the mist.**

**"I want you to do me a favor," Annabeth said. "The Sirens ... we'll be in range of their singing soon."**

**I remembered stories about the Sirens. They sang so sweetly their voices enchanted sailors and lured them to their death.**

**"No problem," I assured her. "We can just stop up our ears. There's a big tub of candle wax below deck—"**

**"I want to hear them."**

"Have you like… gone totally insane?" Travis yelled.

"No, but I might become deaf if you keep screaming in my ear like that," Annabeth said calmly.

"Well then you won't be able to hear the sirens," Apollo grinned.

"Okay, first of all, this is in the past. Second of all, they probably won't go to see the sirens in the future. Third of all, I don't think Annabeth needs to hear them again," Artemis took a breath. "And fourth of all, you're an idiot,"

"Hey, what does the fourth reason have to do with this?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to remind you,"

**I blinked. "Why?"**

**"They say the Sirens sing the truth about what you desire. They tell you things about yourself you didn't even realize. That's what's so enchanting. **

**"Enchanting?"**

**If you survive ... you become wiser. **

"Oh, say no more. You won't give up any opportunity to become wiser," Thalia smiled.

Athena was torn between feeling proud or worried.

**I want to hear them. How often will I get that chance?"**

**Coming from most people, this would've made no sense. **

**A lot of people nodded.**

**But Annabeth being who she was—well, if she could struggle through Ancient Greek architecture books and enjoy documentaries on the History Channel, I guessed the Sirens would appeal to her, too.**

**She told me her plan. Reluctantly, I helped her get ready.**

**As soon as the rocky coastline of the island came into view, I ordered one of the ropes to wrap around Annabeth's waist, tying her to the foremast.**

**"Don't untie me," she said, "no matter what happens or how much I plead. I'll want to go straight over the edge and drown myself."**

"Interesting. Maybe one day, Camp Half-blood should take a little field trip to the sirens," Dionysus laughed.

"Thanks a lot Zeus, you're going to get all our children killed by this lunatic," Artemis rolled her eyes.

"Are you trying to tempt me?"

"Nice one son," Poseidon high fived Percy while Annabeth and Athena glared.

"Oh gods, Percy and Annabeth are like exact replicas of their parents,"

**I promised I'd keep her secure. Then I took two large wads of candle wax, kneaded them into earplugs, and stuffed my ears.**

"How did it feel?" Aphrodite asked curiously.

"Umm… Waxy…?" Percy said uncertainly. "I don't know, go try it yourself,"

Connor and Travis looked at each other like they just got a new prank idea.

"It's okay, candle wax are so out of style. Scratch that, they were never in style," Aphrodite said.

Annabeth nodded sarcastically, letting me know the earplugs were a real fashion statement.

"Wow, looks like Aphrodite and Annabeth agreed on something," Hestia smiled.

"Never thought I'd ever hear that," Hades muttered.

"Hey, we're kind of similar in a way," Annabeth protested.

A lot of people looked at her with an 'are you kidding me?' face.

"We both are… females," Annabeth paused. "Yeah, that works,"

Travis pretended to gasp. "Annabeth, you're a female?"

Annabeth glared, went up to him and began hitting him on the head.

"I'm kidding! You're so pretty, now stop hitting me! Oww…"

**I made a face at her and turned to the pilot's wheel.**

**The silence was eerie. I couldn't hear anything but the rush of blood in my head. As we approached the island, jagged rocks loomed out of the fog. I willed the Queen Anne's Revenge to skirt around them. If we sailed any closer, those rocks would shred our hull like blender blades.**

"And I guess that wouldn't really be good," Apollo said. "Unless you're hoping to destroy your boat,"

"Nah, you know, I think being alive would probably be the best option for me," Percy responded.

**I glanced back. At first, Annabeth seemed totally normal. Then she got a puzzled look on her face. Her eyes widened.**

**She strained against the ropes. She called my name—I could tell just from reading her lips. Her expression was clear: She had to get out. This was life or death. I had to let her out of the ropes right now.**

"But you didn't," Clarisse said.

"Well no duh, I wasn't just going to let Annabeth go drown herself," Percy rolled her eyes.

"No matter how tempting it was for you," Zeus informed.

**She seemed so miserable it was hard not to cut her free.**

**I forced myself to look away. I urged the Queen Anne's Revenge to go faster.**

**I still couldn't see much of the island—just mist and rocks—but floating in the water were pieces of wood and fiberglass, the wreckage of old ships, even some flotation cushions from airplanes.**

**How could music cause so many lives to veer off course? **

"Well, because music is just that awesome," Apollo shined his blinding pearly white smile.

"Ugh, you're teeth are going to veer me off course," Artemis squinted away.

"Because my teeth are just that awesome?"

"Sure, whatever rides your chariot,"

**I mean, sure, there were some Top Forty songs that made me want to take a fiery nosedive, but still ... What could the Sirens possibly sing about?**

**For one dangerous moment, I understood Annabeth's curiosity. I was tempted to take out the earplugs, just to get a taste of the song. I could feel the Sirens' voices vibrating in the timbers of the ship, pulsing along with the roar of blood in my ears.**

**Annabeth was pleading with me. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She strained against the ropes, as if they were holding her back from everything she cared about.**

**How could you be so cruel? She seemed to be asking me. I thought you were my friend.**

"Ouch, man. That's harsh," Hermes said.

**I glared at the misty island. I wanted to uncap my sword, but there was nothing to fight. How do you fight a song?**

"You fight fire with fire," Travis said.

"Yeah, send some hardcore song back to them, see how they like it!" Connor agreed.

"Wow, that is totally the smartest idea ever," Clarisse rolled her eyes.

**I tried hard not to look at Annabeth. I managed it for about five minutes.**

**That was my big mistake.**

**When I couldn't stand it any longer, I looked back and found ... a heap of cut ropes. **

"H-how…?" Everyone looked in shock.

"Eh…" Percy smiled sheepishly.

**An empty mast. Annabeth's bronze knife lay on the deck. **

**Somehow, she'd managed to wriggle it into her hand. I'd totally forgotten to disarm her.**

"Athena, calm down. You look like a tea pot that's going to explode any minute," Hermes said cautiously.

"Calm down? Don't tell me to calm down! This sea spawn is going to get my daughter killed!" Athena snapped.

Percy grimaced.

"It's not like he's trying to!" Poseidon defended.

**I rushed to the side of the boat and saw her, paddling madly for the island, the waves carrying her straight toward the jagged rocks.**

**I screamed her name, but if she heard me, it didn't do any good. She was entranced, swimming toward her death.**

Athena twitched.

**I looked back at the pilot's wheel and yelled, "Stay!"**

Connor couldn't help but snicker, even though the tension was thick. "He's talking to the ship like it's alive. Come on, am I the only one that finds it hilarious?"

"Yes," everyone chorused, but it certainly broke the tension.

**Then I jumped over the side.**

**I sliced into the water and willed the currents to bend around me, making a jet stream that shot me forward.**

"Go fishy powers," Nico whispered.

**I came to the surface and spotted Annabeth, but a wave caught her, sweeping her between two razor-sharp fangs of rock.**

**I had no choice. I plunged after her.**

**I dove under the wrecked hull of a yacht, wove through a collection of floating metal balls on chains that I realized afterward were mines. I had to use all my power over water to avoid getting smashed against the rocks or tangled in the nets of barbed wire strung just below the surface.**

Poseidon bit his fingers. "Be careful, Percy,"

"Do your fingers taste good…?" Apollo looked at his fingers curiously, than tried biting it.

"Apollo, stop that," Artemis scolded. He took his hand out of his mouth and taped it together.

**I jetted between the two rock fangs and found myself in a half-moon-shaped bay. The water was choked with more rocks and ship wreckage and floating mines. The beach was black volcanic sand.**

**I looked around desperately for Annabeth.**

**There she was.**

**Luckily or unluckily, she was a strong swimmer. **

"It would be luckily,"

"Unless drowning is a better option," Ares said.

"I don't know. That's a hard choice. Be eaten by nasty hags or drowning," Apollo commented.

**She'd made it past the mines and the rocks. She was almost to the black beach.**

**Then the mist cleared and I saw them—the Sirens.**

**Imagine a flock of vultures the size of people—with dirty black plumage, gray talons, and wrinkled pink necks. Now imagine human heads on top of those necks, but the human heads keep changing.**

**I couldn't hear them, but I could see they were singing. As their mouths moved, their faces morphed into people I knew—my mom, Poseidon, Grover, Tyson, Chiron. All the people I most wanted to see. **

**They smiled reassuringly, inviting me forward. But no matter what shape they took, their mouths were greasy and caked with the remnants of old meals. **

"Ewww…" Aphrodite gagged.

"I have to agree. All the grease from eating human flesh? Yuck," Artemis scowled.

**Like vultures, they'd been eating with their faces, and it didn't look like they'd been feasting on Monster Donuts.**

**Annabeth swam toward them.**

**I knew I couldn't let her get out of the water. The sea was my only advantage. It had always protected me one way or another. I propelled myself forward and grabbed her ankle.**

**The moment I touched her, a shock went through my body, **

**and I saw the Sirens the way Annabeth must've been seeing them.**

**Three people sat on a picnic blanket in Central Park. A feast was spread out before them. I recognized Annabeth's dad from photos she'd shown me—an athletic-looking, sandy-haired guy in his forties. He was holding hands with a beautiful woman who looked a lot like Annabeth. **

Athena's eyes softened.

**She was dressed casually—in blue jeans and a denim shirt and hiking boots—but something about the woman radiated power. I knew that I was looking at the goddess Athena. **

**Next to them sat a young man ... Luke.**

"Stop looking at me like I'm naïve or something," Annabeth replied to everyone who glanced at her. "Because I'm not,"

**The whole scene glowed in a warm, buttery light. The three of them were talking and laughing, and when they saw Annabeth, their faces lit up with delight. Annabeth's mom and dad held out their arms invitingly. Luke grinned and gestured for Annabeth to sit next to him—as if he'd never betrayed her, as if he were still her friend.**

"Because I wished he was," Annabeth muttered.

**Behind the trees of Central Park, a city skyline rose. I caught my breath, because it was Manhattan, but not Manhattan. **

"Huh?"

**It had been totally rebuilt from dazzling white marble, bigger and grander than ever—with golden windows and rooftop gardens. It was better than New York. Better than Mount Olympus.**

"Better than Mount Olympus? I don't think so," Zeus crossed his arms.

"Well, Mount Olympus looks a lot more wonderful in our times," Percy said.

"What do you mean?" Athena asked.

"It might've been remodelled and tweaked a bit," Annabeth grinned like she was sharing an inside joke.

"A bit?" Thalia and Nico laughed.

**I knew immediately that Annabeth had designed it all. She was the architect for a whole new world. She had reunited her parents. **

Athena sighed silently. Too bad Olympians couldn't stay with mortals.

**She had saved Luke. She had done everything she'd ever wanted.**

**I blinked hard. When I opened my eyes, all I saw were the Sirens—ragged vultures with human faces, ready to feed on another victim.**

Some shuddered with a creepy feeling.

**I pulled Annabeth back into the surf. I couldn't hear her, but I could tell she was screaming. She kicked me in the face, but I held on.**

"Ouch, getting kicked in the face must hurt. And by Annabeth no less," Thalia grinned.

"Yes well, unfortunately, I couldn't just let her go to her death," Percy said.

"Unfortunately?" Annabeth raised her eyebrows.

**I willed the currents to carry us out into the bay. Annabeth pummeled and kicked me, making it hard to concentrate. She thrashed so much we almost collided with a floating mine. I didn't know what to do. I'd never get back to the ship alive if she kept fighting.**

**We went under and Annabeth stopped struggling. Her expression became confused. Then our heads broke the surface and she started to fight again.**

"I guess you found your solution," Hestia said.

**The water! Sound didn't travel well underwater. **

"Yay, Percy figured that out! Don't you feel proud of yourself?" Annabeth mocked.

"Well, yes, that was a very proud moment for me," Percy said. "Until, of course, I remember we we're still in a life and death situation,"

"Yeah, that sure ruins a lot of moments, huh?" the demigods nodded.

**If I could submerge her long enough, I could break the spell of the music. Of course, Annabeth wouldn't be able to breathe, but at the moment, that seemed like a minor problem.**

"Seriously? Breathing is a minor problem?" Artemis questioned. "Guys have problems,"

"Girls have more problems though," the guys chorused.

**I grabbed her around the waist and ordered the waves to push us down.**

**We shot into the depths—ten feet, twenty feet. I knew I had to be careful because I could withstand a lot more pressure than Annabeth. She fought and struggled for breath as bubbles rose around us.**

**Bubbles.**

"That's a funny word," Nico grinned. "Bubbles. Bubb…les… You're bubb-les?"

"Bub… less…" Hermes eyebrows furrowed in thought. "Weird…"

**I was desperate. I had to keep Annabeth alive. I imagined all the bubbles in the sea—always churning, rising. I imagined them coming together, being pulled toward me.**

**The sea obeyed. There was a flurry of white, a tickling sensation all around me, **

Connor snorted while Travis chuckled. They were both thinking the same thing. "The sea is tickling you?"

Everyone shook their heads at the brother's craziness.

"That'd be weird if the sea could tickle you," Percy looked towards Poseidon in question.

**and when my vision cleared, Annabeth and I had a huge bubble of air around us. Only our legs stuck into the water.**

**She gasped and coughed. Her whole body shuddered, but when she looked at me, I knew the spell had been broken.**

**She started to sob—I mean horrible, heartbroken sobbing. She put her head on my shoulder and I held her.**

"I don't like you," Athena told Percy. "You almost got my daughter killed,"

"Key word, almost," Percy pointed out.

**Fish gathered to look at us—a school of barracudas, some curious marlins.**

**Scram! I told them.**

"Hey, no need to be so rude to your distant related fish… people," Connor stumbled over the last few words.

"How am I even related to fish?" Percy exasperatedly asked.

"Well, you're father is Poseidon, and his other son is Triton, and Triton's half fishy so… that's close enough to say that you're related to fish," Travis grinned.

"Well, then I guess you're related to fish too because your grand uncle is Poseidon, who's other son is Triton, who's half fishy. OWNED!" Percy retorted.

"Wow that sounded… complicated and smart. Bravo," Apollo grinned.

"Um, I'm pretty sure it only sounded complicated and smart to you," Athena pointed out.

"Percy, you've left us in a new light. I guess we can now tell people that were related to fish, and not lie," Travis and Connor smiled.

**They swam off, but I could tell they went reluctantly. I swear I understood their intentions. They were about to start rumors flying around the sea about the son of Poseidon and some girl at the bottom of Siren Bay.**

**"I'll get us back to the ship," I told her. "It's okay. Just hang on."**

**Annabeth nodded to let me know she was better now, then she murmured something I couldn't hear because of the wax in my ears.**

**I made the current steer our weird little air submarine through the rocks and barbed wire and back toward the hull of the Queen Anne's Revenge, which was maintaining a slow and steady course away from the island.**

"So much for leave no man behind, huh?"

"Well, boats aren't really ones to listen to instructions," Apollo pointed out.

"Especially because they don't have ears," Artemis added.

"Good point,"

**We stayed underwater, following the ship, until I judged we had moved out of earshot of the Sirens. Then I surfaced and our air bubble popped.**

**I ordered a rope ladder to drop over the side of the ship, and we climbed aboard.**

"Ha, the boat may not have ears, but it still responds!" Connor said.

"Well that's not logical," Hera said.

"You're not logical," Annabeth retorted, making Hera huff.

**I kept my earplugs in, just to be sure. **

**We sailed until the island was completely out of sight. Annabeth sat huddled in a blanket on the forward deck. **

Travis fake coughed. "Hobo,"

**Finally she looked up, dazed and sad, and mouthed, safe.**

**I took out the earplugs. No singing. The afternoon was quiet except for the sound of the waves against the hull. The fog had burned away to a blue sky, as if the island of the Sirens had never existed.**

**"You okay?" I asked. The moment I said it, I realized how lame that sounded. Of course she wasn't okay.**

**"I didn't realize," she murmured.**

**"What?"**

**Her eyes were the same color as the mist over the Sirens' island. "How powerful the temptation would be."**

**I didn't want to admit that I'd seen what the Sirens had promised her. I felt like a trespasser. **

"Because you are," Annabeth said.

"Sorry," Percy apologized.

"Sheesh, take a joke. Your being so… Nico-ish,"

"Nico-ish?" Nico pondered. "COOL! I HAVE MY OWN WORD, HAHAHA!"

"I'm pretty sure it means a bad thing…" Hephaestus chimed in.

"So? I have my own word! This is so awesome!"

"Plus I'm dating him, so it's kinda actually a good thing"

Which made Annabeth and Thalia roll their eyes.

**But I figured I owed it to Annabeth.**

**"I saw the way you rebuilt Manhattan," I told her. "And Luke and your parents."**

**She blushed. "You saw that?"**

"No, he just consulted his magical flying giraffe, who told him everything," Nico said, making everyone roll their eyes.

"Are kids always sarcastic these days?" Hera asked.

"Yep,"

**"What Luke told you back on the Princess Andromeda, about starting the world from scratch ... that really got to you, huh?"**

**She pulled her blanket around her. "My fatal flaw. That's what the Sirens showed me. My fatal flaw is hubris."**

Annabeth nodded her head.

**I blinked. "That brown stuff they spread on veggie sandwiches?"**

A lot of people chuckled while others rolled their eyes playfully.

"That's what a lot of people think at the beginning. But its better," Poseidon said.

"Its worse," Athena interrupted.

"No, its better, I mean, hummus isn't so… yummy," Poseidon blanched.

"Okay, well if you weren't looking at it food wise, than it'd be worse," Athena massaged her forehead.

"Fine fine fine,"

**She rolled her eyes. "No, Seaweed Brain. That's hummus. Hubris is worse."**

**"What could be worse than hummus?"**

"Well, if you think about it, a lot of things. But if you think about it even more, not many things," Connor said.

"Um… Yeah, I'm just going to put that there," Artemis summoned some tape, then put it on Connor's mouth.

"Perfect! It's perfect," Everyone looked at Connor happily.

**"Hubris means deadly pride, Percy. Thinking you can do things better than anyone else ... even the gods."**

Some gods looked at Annabeth, who refused to stare back.

**"You feel that way?"**

**She looked down. "Don't you ever feel like, what if the world really is messed up? What if we could do it all over again from scratch? No more war. Nobody homeless. No more summer reading homework."**

"Annabeth! I thought you'd like summer reading homework like the nerd you are!"

Annabeth rolled her eyes playfully. "Yeah, but I knew that was the only way I'd get Percy's attention,"

"That's true" Percy said.

**"I'm listening."**

"Wow Percy, that's so typical of you," Thalia smirked.

"Yeah, you only listened 'cause it involved no summer reading homework," Poseidon pointed out while Athena frowned. ("What's wrong with summer reading homework?")

**"I mean, the West represents a lot of the best things mankind ever did—that's why the fire is still burning. That's why Olympus is still around. But sometimes you just see the bad stuff, you know? And you start thinking the way Luke does: 'If I could tear this all down, I would do it better.' Don't you ever feel that way? Like you could do a better job if you ran the world?"**

**"Um ... no. Me running the world would kind of be a nightmare."**

"Oh my gods," Demeter shuddered. "Already, I can tell that with Percy as ruler, the world would be scary and chaotic,"

"Yeah, and we're not even through with half the books yet," Hermes laughed.

"Well, it wouldn't be that bad," Percy defended. "Maybe a few explosions here or there, but nothing huge enough to destroy the whole planet. Hopefully,"

"Hopefully?" Everyone looked at him.

**"Then you're lucky. Hubris isn't your fatal flaw."**

**"What is?"**

**"I don't know, Percy, but every hero has one. If you don't find it and learn to control it ... well, they don't call it 'fatal' for nothing."**

**I thought about that. It didn't exactly cheer me up.**

"It doesn't exactly cheer anyone up," Hera said.

"Except psychopaths like…" Some people sent furtive glances to Ares.

**I also noticed Annabeth hadn't said much about the personal things she would change—like getting her parents back together, or saving Luke. I understood. I didn't want to admit how many times I'd dreamed of getting my own parents back together.**

"What kid doesn't want a perfect family," Connor said gloomily, as the other demigods agreed.

Poseidon looked down sadly, along with other Olympians.

"Hey, how could you talk again? There was tape on your mouth," Travis noted.

"Well, first, I took a side of the tape, and then peeled it off my mouth. Then, I could talk again," Connor explained, as everyone face palmed.

**I pictured my mom, alone in our little apartment on the Upper East Side. I tried to remember the smell of her blue waffles in the kitchen. It seemed so far away.**

"Because it is,"

**"So was it worth it?" I asked Annabeth. "Do you feel ... wiser?"**

**She gazed into the distance. "I'm not sure. But we have to save the camp. If we don't stop Luke ..."**

**She didn't need to finish. If Luke's way of thinking could even tempt Annabeth, there was no telling how many other half-bloods might join him.**

**I thought about my dream of the girl **

"That girl has a name you know," Thalia said.

"Which I didn't know yet," Percy pointed out.

**and the golden sarcophagus. I wasn't sure what it meant, but I got the feeling I was missing something. Something terrible that Kronos was planning. What had the girl seen when she opened that coffin lid?**

"Well, whatever is usually in coffins," Hades deduced. "Bodies,"

"Okay, but common sense wasn't even in my vocabulary back then," Percy said.

"So, you sucked at English…?" Apollo asked.

"No, that means he never had any common sense," Athena rolled her eyes.

"Oh, I totally knew that. I was just testing your knowledge,"

"Okay, even if we believed that lie, it doesn't really make sense that you're testing the goddess of wisdom's knowledge," Annabeth pointed out.

"I hate you smart people," Apollo pouted.

**Suddenly Annabeth's eyes widened. "Percy."**

**I turned.**

**Up ahead was another blotch of land—a saddle-shaped island with forested hills and white beaches and green meadows—just like I'd seen in my dreams.**

The room seemed to be silent.

**My nautical senses confirmed it. 30 degrees, 31 minutes north, 75 degrees, 12 minutes west.**

**We had reached the home of the Cyclops.**

"DUN DUN DUN, intense moment!" Apollo broke the tension.

"Thanks Apollo, for that orchestra of one," Aphrodite said.

"No probs, hun," Ares and Hephaestus' eyes seemed to bore into Apollo.


	16. Chapter 16

**"We Meet the Sheep of Doom!"**

"Really Percy?" Thalia looked in disbelief.

"What, sheep are scary creatures." Percy shuddered.

"Even scarier than tofu?" Travis asked.

"It's scarier than school!"

Connor gasped loudly as Annabeth rolled her eyes. "NO WAY MAN! YOU DID JUST NOT GO THERE!"

"I went there."

"Oh gods, this is some serious sheep here."

**When you think "monster island," you think craggy rocks and bones scattered on the beach like the island of the Sirens.**

"No, I think of a cotton candy island filled with magical pink ponies prancing around a sparkly leprechaun," Nico said.

"You don't actually mean it right?" Thalia asked cautiously.

"Uh… YES!"

"I hope its opposite day today then," Hera said.

"Sdrawkcab gnithyreve yas ot evah I dluow, si ti fi llew?" Nico stumbled a few times.

"What?"

Nico rolled his eyes like it was such a huge inconvenience to his life. "Well if it is, would I have to say everything backwards?"

"No… Besides, you didn't say that backwards," Artemis pointed out.

Nico looked stumped.

**The Cyclops's island was nothing like that. I mean, okay, it had a rope bridge across a chasm, which was not a good sign. You might as well put up a billboard that said, SOMETHING EVIL LIVES HERE. **

"Well, I guess that would save a whole lot of satyrs from being eaten," Annabeth said helpfully.

"The lord of the wild would be really grateful," Travis said.

"Pan…" Hermes whispered, and all the demigods looked away.

**But except for that, the place looked like a Caribbean postcard. It had green fields and tropical fruit trees and white beaches. As we sailed toward the shore, Annabeth breathed in the sweet air. "The Fleece," she said.**

**I nodded. I couldn't see the Fleece yet, but I could feel its power. I could believe it would heal anything, even Thalia's poisoned tree. **

**"If we take it away, will the island die?" **

"Who cares about the island, let it suffer in eternal agony," Ares smirked.

"Ares, have respect for the earth!" Hera scolded. "But you should have even more respect for family,"

"Cereal! Cereal should be your top priority! Wheat…" Demeter had a far away look.

"Look at the mesmerizing sea, aren't I so amazing?"

"LIGHTNING! MUHAHA, LIGHTNING STRIKES ALL!"

"The dead are so cool… They can juggle too you know?

"Honestly, I think poetry is the best. Haikus…"

"Guys, shut up!" Athena had an irritated look while the demigods just stared. "Anyways, we all know wisdom trumps all, so read on!"

They were about to protest but Connor cut them off by reading.

**Annabeth shook her head. "It'll fade. Go back to what it would be normally, whatever that is."**

**I felt a little guilty about ruining this paradise, but I reminded myself we had no choice. Camp Half-Blood was in trouble. And Tyson ... Tyson would still be with us if it wasn't for this quest.**

Percy looked down but remembered that Tyson was still alive in the future.

Poseidon looked unhappy but tried not to show it.

**In the meadow at the base of the ravine, several dozen sheep were milling around. They looked peaceful enough, but they were huge—the size of hippos. **

**Just past them was a path that led up into the hills. At the top of the path, near the edge of the canyon, was the massive oak tree I'd seen in my dreams. Something gold glittered in its branches.**

**"This is too easy," I said. "We could just hike up there and take it?"**

"Of course not," Athena said in a bored tone.

"Percy, haven't you learnt your lesson that not everything's easy?" Thalia said.

"Yes, mom, I have," Percy rolled his eyes. "No need to lecture me about every little dumb thing I do,"

"Well, I don't do that, or else I'd be lecturing you every minute we're reading," Thalia teased.

"Gee, thanks,"

**Annabeth's eyes narrowed. "There's supposed be a guardian. A dragon or …"**

**That's when a deer emerged from the bushes. It trotted into the meadow, probably looking for grass to eat, when the sheep all bleated at once and rushed the animal. It happened so fast that the deer stumbled and was lost in a sea of wool and trampling hooves.**

**Grass and tufts of fur flew into the air.**

"Stupid sheep," Artemis mumbled.

"Hey, don't be a sheep hater. Carnivorous sheep are awesome,"

"Until they eat you, of course,"

"Eh, minor details," Apollo waved off.

Hephaestus snorted. "I wonder what he considers major."

**A second later the sheep all moved away, back to their regular peaceful wanderings. Where the deer had been was a pile of clean white bones.**

"Wow, if I had one of those, I would never have to eat my vegetables ever again,"

"You don't eat them anyways," Hera frowned.

"Point taken,"

"Who cares about your vegetable issues," Artemis huffed. "That poor deer!"

**Annabeth and I exchanged looks.**

**"They're like piranhas," she said.**

**"Piranhas with wool. How will we—"**

**"Percy!" Annabeth gasped, grabbing my arm. "Look."**

**She pointed down the beach, to just below the sheep meadow, where a small boat had been run aground ... the other lifeboat from the CSS Birmingham.**

**We decided there was no way we could get past the man-eating sheep. Annabeth wanted to sneak up the path invisibly and grab the Fleece, but in the end I convinced her that something would go wrong. **

"And Percy's correct… For once," Thalia said.

"Um, you're wrong. Percy's correct, once again," Percy said.

Everyone couldn't help but roll their eyes.

**The sheep would smell her. Another guardian would appear. Something. And if that happened, I'd be too far away to help.**

**Besides, our first job was to find Grover and whoever had come ashore in that lifeboat—assuming they'd gotten past the sheep. I was too nervous to say what I was secretly hoping ... that Tyson might still be alive.**

Poseidon fidgeted on his throne.

"You know Uncle P, if you really need to go potty that badly, just go right ahead," Apollo said. "We wouldn't want there to be an accident here in front of everyone,"

Everyone burst into hysterical laughter as Poseidon blushed red. With gritted teeth, he said "No Apollo, I don't need to go… potty,"

"Okay, well I was just asking 'cause it really looked like you did,"

"I… Ugh, just continue reading,"

**We moored the Queen Anne's Revenge on the back side of the island where the cliffs rose straight up a good two hundred feet. I figured the ship was less likely to be seen there. The cliffs looked climbable, barely—about as difficult as the lava wall back at camp. At least it was free of sheep. I hoped that Polyphemus did not also keep carnivorous mountain goats.**

**We rowed a lifeboat to the edge of the rocks and made our way up, very slowly. Annabeth went first because she was the better climber.**

"Or maybe because you were scared…?" Thalia taunted

"You're just begging to pick a fight with me aren't ya," Percy said.

"Yup, that's what I do for a living,"

"Great, have fun becoming a hobo soon,"

"I will,"

"Good,"

**We only came close to dying six or seven times, which I thought was pretty good. Once, I lost my grip and I found myself dangling by one hand from a ledge fifty feet above the rocky surf. But I found another handhold and kept climbing. **

**A minute later Annabeth hit a slippery patch of moss and her foot slipped. Fortunately, she found some thing else to put it against. Unfortunately, that something was my face.**

Athena gave the biggest grin ever and began laughing, everyone else soon joining in.

"Hey, it's not that funny," Percy said a minute later.

Nico was laughing so hard that he accidently slapped himself, making everyone burst into a new fit of laughter, including himself.

"Again, not that funny,"

"Yes it is,"

Nico suddenly stopped. "Why are we laughing again?"

"Um…"

**"Sorry," she murmured.**

**"S'okay," I grunted, though I'd never really wanted to know what Annabeth's sneaker tasted like.**

"Well maybe you'd like to know now…?" Annabeth stuck her foot in Percy's face.

"Eww… Bleh, it still tastes the same as it did three years ago," Percy grinned, causing another round of laughter.

"Good to know you still remember," Annabeth winked.

"I could never forget, it tasted nasty"

"Ugh, get a life people," Clarisse gagged.

"If I remember correctly, I saw you and Chris behind the Hermes cabin–" Travis was cut off when Clarisse punched him while blushing.

"OUCH!"

"Remind me never to mess with a child of Ares again," Travis muttered after.

"Nah, that was hilarious to watch!" Percy smirked.

Everyone chuckled while Aphrodite grinned at what Travis said.

**Finally, when my fingers felt like molten lead and my arm muscles were shaking from exhaustion, we hauled our selves over the top of the cliff and collapsed.**

**"Ugh," I said.**

**"Ouch," moaned Annabeth.**

**"Garrr!" bellowed another voice.**

"That wouldn't happen to be your stomach, would it?" Poseidon asked weakly.

"Wow, someone must've been really hungry then," Hermes mused.

**If I hadn't been so tired, I would've leaped another two hundred feet. **

"That would've been high," Zeus whistled. "High enough… that you would be in my domain…"

"Don't even think about it," Poseidon cut him off.

**I whirled around, but I couldn't see who'd spoken.**

**Annabeth clamped her hand over my mouth. She pointed.**

**The ledge we were sitting on was narrower than I'd realized. It dropped off on the opposite side, and that's where the voice was coming from—right below us.**

**"You're a feisty one!" the deep voice bellowed.**

"Haha, yes, we are." Connor snickered.

"Oh gods Connor, you're creepy,"

**"Challenge me!" Clarisse's voice, no doubt about it. **

"That's right, go get 'em," Ares whispered.

**"Give me back my sword and I'll fight you!"**

**The monster roared with laughter.**

**Annabeth and I crept to the edge. We were right above the entrance of the Cyclops's cave. Below us stood Polyphemus and Grover, still in his wedding dress. **

**Clarisse was tied up, hanging upside down over a pot of boiling water. **

Clarisse folded her arms. "If he'd let me down, I would've so owned him,"

Percy stared. "He's like 10 times bigger than you,"

"So?"

Ares grinned at his daughter.

**I was half hoping to see Tyson down there, too. Even if he'd been in danger, at least I would've known he was alive. But there was no sign of him.**

**"Hmm," Polyphemus pondered. "Eat loudmouth girl now or wait for wedding feast? **

"I don't know, that's a really tough one," Apollo pretended to be deep in thought while Clarisse glared.

"Yeah, either way, It'd be one less brat to take care of," Dionysus said.

"Shut up," Ares growled.

"No no, Dionysus is right." Poseidon agreed. "And maybe, if he were in Tartarus, that'd be one less annoying god to take care of,"

A bunch of oooh's echoed throughout the room.

Dionysus stayed quiet.

**What does my bride think?"**

He turned to Grover, who backed up and almost tripped over his completed bridal train.  
  
**"Oh, um, I'm not hungry right now, dear. Perhaps-**

**"Did you say bride?" Clarisse demanded. "Who- Grover?"**

**Next to me, Annabeth muttered, "Shut up. She has to shut up."**

**Polyphemus glowered. "What 'Grover'?"**

**"The satyr!" Clarisse yelled.**

"Seriously Clarisse?" Thalia asked.

"Okay, I admit that wasn't the smartest thing to do." Clarisse muttered.

"Understatement of the century," Travis scoffed.

Travis ended up getting a black eye from Clarisse but luckily, Apollo healed him.

"Travis, you should really stop getting punched by girls," Nico said.

"Ah, but it's not plural. It's just Clarisse," Travis pointed out.

Annabeth walked up to Travis and punched him hard. "Now it's not," she grinned happily.

**"Oh!" Grover yelped. "The poor thing's brain is boiling from that hot water. Pull her down, dear!"**

"Poor thing?" Clarisse raised her eyebrows. "When I get my hands on him, ill–"

"Sheesh, stop being so violent," Demeter said. "You really need more cereal,"

"Uh…"

"Clarisse, shut up before she makes us eat cereal," Hermes whispered frantically.

**Polyphemus's eyelids narrowed over his baleful milky eye, as if he were trying to see Clarisse more clearly.**

**The Cyclops was an even more horrible sight than he had been in my dreams. Partly because his rancid smell was now up close and personal. Partly because he was dressed in his wedding outfit—a crude kilt and shoulder-wrap, stitched together from baby-blue tuxedoes, as if the he'd skinned an entire wedding party.**

Aphrodite wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Honestly, people and their audacity to dress wretchedly."

"Aphrodite used a big word!" Athena clapped sarcastically. "You deserve a gold star!"

"Ooh, gold stars are so cute!"

"Okay Connor, read on. I so do not want to listen to Aphrodite rant for half an hour on the latest shoe trends," Hera said.

"Aye aye cap'n," Connor saluted.

"Connor, we're not on a ship." Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Well, use some imagination. We could be the T.I.A.O.D.A.S.Y.W.N.F.O. Ship," Connor said.

"What…?"

"It stands for the 'This is actually Olympus disguised as something you will never figure out' Ship,"

"I just figured it out. It's a ship." Nico said unenthusiastically.

"Darn, you're so brilliant," Clarisse rolled her eyes.

**"What satyr?" asked Polyphemus. "Satyrs are good eating. You bring me a satyr?"**

**"No, you big idiot!" bellowed Clarisse. "That satyr! Grover! The one in the wedding dress!"**

**I wanted to wring Clarisse's neck, but it was too late.**

"It's never too late, never too late," Apollo sang.

"Yeah, he can try all he wants, but he'll never succeed," Clarisse told Apollo smugly.

Percy smirked as a blob of water slowly curled around her neck.

"AH, HOLY CRAP, PERCY!" Clarisse shot up out of her seat like a bullet. "You scared the hell out of me,"

People laughed as Connor said "Percy scared you!"

"I didn't mean it like that," Clarisse glared venomously.

Percy immediately regretted it at the look on Clarisse's face. "Sorry,"

"You better be," Clarisse threatened.

**All I could do was watch as Polyphemus turned and ripped off Grover's wedding veil—revealing his curly hair, his scruffy adolescent beard, his tiny horns.**

**Polyphemus breathed heavily, trying to contain his anger. "I don't see very well," he growled. "Not since many years ago when the other hero stabbed me in eye. But YOU'RE—NO—LADY—CYCLOPS!"**

"Wow, I never noticed. I thought Grover was the prettiest lady alive!" Nico said sarcastically.

Aphrodite looked appalled. "W-what?"

Everyone laughed at Aphrodite's horrified and devastated expression.

**The Cyclops grabbed Grover's dress and tore it away. Underneath, the old Grover reappeared in his jeans and T-shirt. **

"Good, because that'd be really awkward if he didn't have anything on underneath,"

"I don't even want to think about it,"

**He yelped and ducked as the monster swiped over his head.**

**"Stop!" Grover pleaded. "Don't eat me raw! I—I have a good recipe!"**

"Uh huh, would that be crème de la Grover?"

"Travis, you're not an Aphrodite kid. You can't speak French,"

"Yes, Travis is totally not my child. I mean, did you see that shirt?" Aphrodite said.

Travis looked down at his shirt looking insulted.

**I reached for my sword, but Annabeth hissed, "Wait!"**

**Polyphemus was hesitating, a boulder in his hand, ready to smash his would-be bride.**

**"Recipe?" he asked Grover.**

**"Oh y-yes! You don't want to eat me raw. You'll get E-Coli and botulism and all sorts of horrible things. **

"I don't think he really cares," Hestia murmured.

"What's E-Coli and botulism anyways?" Travis muttered.

"I don't know," everyone looked to the wisdom goddess for an explanation.

"E-Coli are bacteria in intestines while botulism is basically food poisoning," Athena tried to make the definition as simple as possible.

"Athena's smart," Percy stated.

Everyone looked at him in disbelief.

"What? Just because I like stating the obvious doesn't mean I'm dumb,"

"Yes it does,"

"Nuh uh,"

"Yeah,"

"No it doesn't!"

**I'll taste much better grilled over a slow fire. With mango chutney! You could go get some mangos right now, down there in the woods. I'll just wait here."**

**The monster pondered this. My heart hammered against my ribs. I figured I'd die if I charged. **

"Pray to the gods that you don't charge then," Poseidon bit his lip.

"As gods, we make no promises," Hermes grinned jokingly.

**But I couldn't let the monster kill Grover.**

**"Grilled satyr with mango chutney," Polyphemus mused. He looked back at Clarisse, still hanging over the pot of boiling water. "You a satyr, too?"**

**"No, you overgrown pile of dung!" she yelled. "I'm a girl! The daughter of Ares! Now untie me so I can rip your arms off!"**

"Yes yes, that's my girl!" Ares cheered as Clarisse smiled.

**"Rip my arms off," Polyphemus repeated.**

**"And stuff them down your throat!"**

**"You got spunk."**

"He really says that after someone threatens to rip his arms off and stuff them down his throat?" Artemis mused.

"Well that's because he doesn't have temper problems or hold grudges," Poseidon looked towards his brothers.

"But he does have some food issues," Hermes said. "I mean, eating little girls? That's a really weird diet,"

"I'm not little!" Clarisse said angrily.

"Don't care, Claire," Dionysus said.

"It's Clarisse." Ares said through gritted teeth.

**"Let me down!"**

**Polyphemus snatched up Grover as if he were a wayward puppy. "Have to graze sheep now. Wedding postponed until tonight. Then we'll eat satyr for the main course!"**

"Yay, can't wait." Travis looked green.

**"But ... you're still getting married?" Grover sounded hurt. "Who's the bride?"**

"Oh my gods, I think that's the sweetest thing ever!" Aphrodite shrieked, making everyone cover their ears.

"The satyr cares." Demeter blinked.

"Same old Grover," Thalia shook her head. "He always cared about everything,"

**Polyphemus looked toward the boiling pot.**

**Clarisse made a strangled sound. "Oh, no! You can't be serious.**

"Oh, he's so serious. He's so serious that it's unbelievable how serious he is."

"Um… Kay."

I'm not—"

**Before Annabeth or I could do anything, Polyphemus plucked her off the rope like she was a ripe apple, and tossed her and Grover deep into the cave. "Make yourself comfortable! I come back at sundown for big event!"**

**Then the Cyclops whistled, and a mixed flock of goats and sheep—smaller than the man-eaters—flooded out of the cave and past their master. As they went to pasture, Polyphemus patted some on the back and called them by name—Beltbuster, Tammany, Lockhart, etc.**

"Interesting names," Dionysus didn't look interested at all.

**When the last sheep had waddled out, Polyphemus rolled a boulder in front of the doorway as easily as I would close a refrigerator door, shutting off the sound of Clarisse and Grover screaming inside.**

**"Mangos," Polyphemus grumbled to himself. "What are mangos?"**

"How can he not know what mangos are…" Hera said.

"He's a Cyclops marooned on an island. Probably doesn't see many mangos around," Artemis pointed out.

"Probably doesn't see many showers either," Aphrodite grumbled.

"He lives in a cave. I guess showers don't really go with the setting," Hades said.

"It should,"

**He strolled off down the mountain in his baby-blue groom's outfit, leaving us alone with a pot of boiling water and a six-ton boulder.**

**We tried for what seemed like hours, but it was no good. The boulder wouldn't move. We yelled into the cracks, tapped on the rock, did everything we could think of to get a signal to Grover, but if he heard us, we couldn't tell.**

**Even if by some miracle we managed to kill Polyphemus, it wouldn't do us any good. Grover and Clarisse would die inside that sealed cave. The only way to move the rock was to have the Cyclops do it.**

**In total frustration, I stabbed Riptide against the boulder. **

"Ehem, anger management issues," Thalia said in a sing-song voice.

"Really? Says the one who zapped me half way across the camp when I asked for a wand," Percy sniffed, as everyone laughed. Zeus looked proud while Poseidon huffed.

"It's not my fault. I thought you wanted to be another wannabe Harry Potter!" Thalia defended.

"I was getting it for the Hecate cabin!"

"Wait, who's Harry Potter?" Nico asked curiously.

Everyone gaped at him, even the Olympians.

"Oh yeah, we forgot your not yet acquainted with the modern muggle world." Annabeth joked.

Nico just stared with a blank face.

**Sparks flew, but nothing else happened. A large rock is not the kind of enemy you can fight with a magic sword.**

"Yeah, I think anyone could have figured that out without trying to stab a boulder in the process,"

**Annabeth and I sat on the ridge in despair and watched the distant baby-blue shape of the Cyclops as he moved among his flocks. He had wisely divided his regular animals from his man-eating sheep, putting each group on either side of the huge crevice that divided the island. The only way across was the rope bridge, and the planks were much too far apart for sheep hooves.**

**We watched as Polyphemus visited his carnivorous flock on the far side. Unfortunately, they didn't eat him. **

"Wow, I can just imagine that. Flocks of sheep going on a cyclops-eating rampage," Travis said.

Connor began laughing wildly. "I just imagined a sheep trying to shove the whole cyclops down its throat,"

"You two are disturbing…" Everyone looked at them weirdly.

**In fact, they didn't seem to bother him at all. He fed them chunks of mystery meat from a great wicker basket, which only reinforced the feelings I'd been having since Circe turned me into a guinea pig—that maybe it was time I joined Grover and became a vegetarian.**

Apollo gasped as everyone rolled their eyes. "Give up meat? Are you insane?"

"Everyone knows that Percy's insane," Thalia chimed in.

"Meat is like… holy. It's holy meat. We worship it," Travis said as Artemis stared disgustedly at him.

"Is there a meat god?" Connor asked. Everyone ignored him.

"First you eat celery and salad, and now you're thinking about become a vegetarian?" Hermes shook his head in disappointment.

"Well, you know, you could eat more wheat and cereal," Demeter unsubtly hinted.

"I still eat meat!" Percy quickly said.

**"Trickery," Annabeth decided. "We can't beat him by force, so we'll have to use trickery."**

Athena nodded as everyone who saw her rolled their eyes.

"Okay," I said. "What trick?'

"I haven't figured that part out yet."

"What happened to 'Athena always has a plan'?" Clarisse smirked.

"Don't you dare turn my words against me," Annabeth folded her arms while pouting.

"Aw, but it's so fun because we hardly ever get the chance," Percy grinned.

**"Great."**

**"Polyphemus will have to move the rock to let the sheep inside."**

**"At sunset," I said. "Which is when he'll marry Clarisse and have Grover for dinner. I'm not sure which is grosser."**

"Clarisse getting married," A lot of people agreed.

**"I could get inside," she said, "Invisibly."**

**"What about me?"**

**"The sheep," Annabeth mused. She gave me one of those sly looks that always made me wary. **

"I swore, I saw a light bulb ding on top of her head when she said that," Percy stated.

"I'm not really surprised

**"How much do you like sheep?"**

**"Just don't let go!" Annabeth said, standing invisibly some where off to my right. That was easy for her to say. She wasn't hanging upside down from the belly of a sheep.**

"So that's your plan," Athena said. "I like it,"

"Ha, you're just saying that because it's my son who's riding on a sheep upside down," Poseidon rolled his eyes.

"Atleast he's learning valuable sheep riding skills,"

"Yes, because there will come a day when I'm in a life-threatening situation where I'll have to ride a sheep upside down." Percy said monotonously.

**Now, I'll admit it wasn't as hard as I'd thought. I'd crawled under a car before to change my mom's oil, and this wasn't too different. The sheep didn't care. Even the Cyclops's smallest sheep were big enough to support my weight, and they had thick wool. I just twirled the stuff into handles for my hands, hooked my feet against the sheep's thigh bones, and presto—I felt like a baby wallaby, riding around against the sheep's chest, trying to keep the wool out of my mouth and my nose.**

**In case you're wondering, the underside of a sheep doesn't smell that great. **

"We weren't wondering,"

"I was, and finally, I know the truth. Connor, pay up," Travis grinned.

Connor groaned. "I don't have any drachmas though,"

"Wait, you guys bet whether a sheep smelled good or not?" Artemis asked incredulously.

"Yeah,"

Athena turned to Connor. "And you thought a sheep smelled great?"

"It's not my fault! Thalia told me that they smelled good!"

All heads whirled to Thalia, who shrugged. "I didn't think he would actually believe me,"

"Thanks a lot! Now I have to pay Travis with some drachmas I don't have," Connor grumbled.

**Imagine a winter sweater that's been dragged through the mud and left in the laundry hamper for a week. Something like that.**

"Well, that isn't so bad," Connor mused.

Everyone looked disgusted.

"Travis, remember the time we left our shirts–" Connor started.

"–in the mud then finally found it again the next summer?" Travis finished.

"Yeah, it smelt horrible," Connor said.

"Ewww…" Aphrodite wrinkled her nose.

"That's disgusting, guys," Annabeth said.

**The sun was going down.**

"Bye bye Apollo," the sun god pouted.

"Hell-o Artemis," Hermes continued.

Artemis smiled.

**No sooner was I in position than the Cyclops roared, "Oy! Goaties! Sheepies!"**

**The flock dutifully began trudging back up the slopes toward the cave.**

**"This is it!" Annabeth whispered. "I'll be close by. Don't worry."**

**I made a silent promise to the gods that if we survived this, I'd tell Annabeth she was a genius. **

"You never did," Annabeth pointed out.

The Olympians gasped mockingly.

"Perseus, we hold you to your promise," Hermes said solemnly.

"Ugh, Annabeth, you're a genius," Percy mumbled.

"What? Could you repeat that?" Annabeth smirked.

Percy huffed indignantly. "YOU'RE A GENIUS! Okay, there? I said it!"

"Thanks, you really didn't need to say that," Annabeth gushed while Percy glared.

**The frightening thing was, I knew the gods would hold me to it.**

"Be careful to what you promise," Athena advised.

"How's that even frightening." Apollo said. "Sure, we might've tortured you if we were in a bad mood that day, but hey; you're still here aren't ya?"

"How reassuring," Percy said with thick sarcasm.

**My sheep taxi started plodding up the hill. After a hundred yards, my hands and feet started to hurt from holding on. **

**I gripped the sheep's wool more tightly, and the animal made a grumbling sound. I didn't blame it. I wouldn't want anybody rock-climbing in my hair either. But if I didn't hold on, I was sure I'd fall off right there in front of the monster.**

**"Hasenpfeffer!" the Cyclops said, patting one of the sheep in front of me. **

"What kind of name is that?"

"A sheep name." Artemis said.

"If I had sheep, I would name it Bob or something,"

"But Bob is such an unoriginal name. Why not Travis Jr. or something?" Travis suggested.

**"Einstein! Widget—eh there, Widget!"**

**Polyphemus patted my sheep and nearly knocked me to the ground. "Putting on some extra mutton there?"**

**Uh-oh, I thought. Here it comes.**

Poseidon held his breath for all it was worth.

**But Polyphemus just laughed and swatted the sheep's rear end, propelling us forward. "Go on, fatty! Soon Polyphemus will eat you for breakfast!"**

"Well, that's quite encouraging isn't it,"

"Yeah, those words just make me feel so warm and fuzzy inside,"

"Sure beats getting eaten by

**And just like that, I was in the cave.**

**I could see the last of the sheep coming inside. If Annabeth didn't pull off her distraction soon ...**

**The Cyclops was about to roll the stone back into place, when from somewhere outside Annabeth shouted, "Hello, ugly!"**

Percy smirked. "And I made pathetic insults?"

"Okay, so I could've made a better insult, but it still made him mad in the end," Annabeth smiled back.

**Polyphemus stiffened. "Who said that?"**

**"Nobody!" Annabeth yelled.**

"Nobody said that?" Connor asked.

"Yes, Nobody said that,"

**That got exactly the reaction she'd been hoping for. The monster's face turned red with rage.**

**"Nobody!" Polyphemus yelled back. "I remember you!"**

**"You're too stupid to remember anybody," Annabeth taunted. "Much less Nobody."**

"OWNED! SOME ONE-EYED BEAST JUST GOT DESTROYED BY A DAUGHTER OF WISDOM!"

"Hey, he's not a beast. No matter what, he's still my son," Poseidon mentioned.

"He's trying to kill Percy," Hermes reminded.

"Oh yeah, okay, it's free for all then," Poseidon said.

**I hoped to the gods she was already moving when she said that, because Polyphemus bellowed furiously, grabbed the nearest boulder (which happened to be his front door) and threw it toward the sound of Annabeth's voice. I heard the rock smash into a thousand fragments.**

"Oh, guess he doesn't have a door anymore,"

"Serves him right. That's door abuse,"

Percy looked slightly guilty. "If there's actually something called door abuse, I feel sorry for all those innocent doors I've killed,"

"Door murderer,"

**For a terrible moment, there was silence. Then Annabeth shouted, "You haven't learned to throw any better, either!"**

Athena let out the breath that she was holding and smiled.

**Polyphemus howled. "Come here! Let me kill you, Nobody!"**

**"You can't kill Nobody, you stupid oaf," she taunted. "Come find me!"**

**Polyphemus barreled down the hill toward her voice.**

**Now, the "Nobody" thing wouldn't have made sense to anybody, **

"Actually, it makes sense to everyone here,"

Okay well, I guess the book is written for a mortal's point of view," Percy said.

**but Annabeth had explained to me that it was the name Odysseus had used to trick Polyphemus centuries ago, right before he poked the Cyclops's eye out with a large hot stick. **

"Ouch, that must've hurt," Thalia winced.

"Odysseus," Poseidon wrinkled his nose. "Never liked that lad,"

Almost everyone all had popcorn in their hands, ready for the argument that was just begging to happen.

"That's because he's too cool for you," Athena harrumphed.

"No way you owl freak, Percy is so much better than Odysseus," Poseidon argued.

"You just don't like Odysseus because he poked you're monster of a son in the eye,"

"I agree," Zeus smirked, wanting to irk Poseidon.

"Shut up Zeus, no one asked for your opinion," Poseidon mumbled moodily. "Ugh, whatever. He isn't even worth defending anymore,"

Everyone who was watching the conversation like a tennis match frowned in disappointment.

"My mom won," Annabeth whispered.

"You wish," Percy chuckled. While looking at Nico, who was still hyper.

**Annabeth had figured Polyphemus would still have a grudge about that name, and she was right. In his frenzy to find his old enemy, he forgot about resealing the cave entrance. Apparently, he didn't even stop to consider that Annabeth's voice was female, whereas the first Nobody had been male. **

Hephaestus snorted. "Fail,"

**On the other hand, he'd wanted to marry Grover, so he couldn't have been all that bright about the whole male/female thing.**

**I just hoped Annabeth could stay alive and keep distracting him long enough for me to find Grover and Clarisse.**

**I dropped off my ride, patted Widget on the head, and apologized. I searched the main room, but there was no sign of Grover or Clarisse. I pushed through the crowd of sheep and goats toward the back of the cave.**

**Even though I'd dreamed about this place, I had a hard time finding my way through the maze. **

"Ha, that's nothing compared to the Labyrinth," Percy said, making Poseidon blink in surprise and worry.

"How'd you get out alive?" Athena asked.

"You sound kind of disappointed," Artemis noted.

"I am disappointed," Athena smirked amusedly.

"Harsh," Percy said, but didn't take it personally. Since Athena in his time, was even harsher.

**I ran down corridors littered with bones, past rooms full of sheepskin rugs and life-size cement sheep that I recognized as the work of Medusa. There were collections of sheep T-shirts; large tubs of lanolin cream; and wooly coats, socks, and hats with ram's horns. **

**Finally, I found the spinning room, where Grover was huddled in the corner, trying to cut Clarisse's bonds with a pair of safety scissors.**

"Dude, safety scissors can't even cut paper, let alone rope,"

"WAIT! Safety scissors is for paper?" Apollo looked shocked.

"Yes…"

"What'd you think it was for?" Hermes asked.

"I… I thought it was to cut meat,"

"You use everything to cut meat," Artemis snapped.

"Well obviously, if there was a spoon beside me and a knife half way across the room, which one do you think I'd use?" Apollo said in a 'duh' tone. "The spoon,"

Percy nodded in agreement. "That's the smartest thing you've said all day,"

All of the girls just rolled their eyes at the two.

**"It's no good," Clarisse said. "This rope is like iron!"**

**"Just a few more minutes!"**

**"Grover," she cried, exasperated. "You've been working at it for hours!"**

**And then they saw me.**

**"Percy?" Clarisse said. "You're supposed to be blown up!"**

"Gee, thanks Clarisse, I feel so welcomed," Percy rolled his eyes.

"You're welcome,"

**"Good to see you, too. Now hold still while I—"**

**"Perrrrrcy!" Grover bleated and tackled me with a goat-hug. "You heard me! You came!"**

**"Yeah, buddy," I said. "Of course I came."**

**"Where's Annabeth?"**

**"Outside," I said. "But there's no time to talk. Clarisse, hold still."**

**I uncapped Riptide and sliced off her ropes. She stood stiffly, rubbing her wrists. She glared at me for a moment, then looked at the ground and mumbled, "Thanks."**

"Percy, you're a miracle worker!" Travis exclaimed.

"Uh… okay. Why again?" Percy was confused.

"You got Clarisse to say thanks!"

"Hey, I can say thanks when I want to," Clarisse said.

**"You're welcome," I said. "Now, was anyone else on board your lifeboat?"**

**Clarisse looked surprised. "No. **

Poseidon slumped down low in this throne and bit his lip so hard that it dripped a drop of ichor.

"Dad…"

"I'm not worried. Nope, not at all. I know Tyson's alright. What made you think I was worried? Because I'm not." Poseidon smiled weakly.

"Um… Sure," Percy mumbled.

"Poseidon, just saying but you're almost as bad of a liar as Grover," Hermes said.

"That's insulting,"

"Just stating the truth,"

**Just me. Everybody else aboard the Birmingham... well, I didn't even know you guys made it out."**

**I looked down, trying not to believe that my last hope of seeing Tyson alive had just been crushed.**

**"Okay. Come on, then. We have to help—"**

**An explosion echoed through the cave, followed by a scream that told me we might be too late. It was Annabeth crying out in fear.**

Athena gripped her throne so tightly that for a second, everyone thought it would crack.

"Well, I think we should call it a night," Zeus tried to pry Athena's fingers from her throne in vain.

"Kay," Everyone reluctantly agreed.

Ares awkwardly hugged Clarisse. "Goodnight…"

"Uh… yeah, goodnight,"

Hera stood there shaking her head in disappointment. It's just sad when hugging your own daughter is awkward.

"I'm not sleepy!" Nico whined. He began doing handstands as an example.

"Okay, go to sleep Nico," Percy looked worn out.

"Fine, party pooper," Nico cart wheeled out the door.

"Who knew he was that flexible?" Thalia mused.

"He's probably going to be sore the next morning," Annabeth noted.


	17. Chapter 17

Percy came into the throne room with a thumb-sucking Nico in his arms.

"OH MY GAWDS, HE LOOKS SO YOUNG AND CUTE!" Aphrodite screamed, oddly not waking up Nico.

"Well, he is twelve," Annabeth mumbled while Athena said "You're going to make us all deaf,"

"I uh… didn't want to wake him up, he usually likes to sleep in, plus you probably don't want to wake him up early" Percy said.

"So you brought him here?"

"Well, would you rather I be late as always?"

"Touché,"

"Anyways, I did try to wake him up, but he threw a glass lamp at my face and caused the shadows to drag me away," Percy gave an evil glance at said kid. "The crazy thing though was that he was still half asleep." He'll probably will wake now. Percy then whispered in his ear, "wake up Nico, its time to read"

"Don't want to, want to sleep" Nico said, sleeply.

"I'll make you sit next to Thalia, and let her freely torture you"

Which made Nico's eyes open wide, while saying. "I'm up!" Then fell back asleep in Percy's arms.

Hades then walked up to Nico, and stared at him with proud eyes. He slowly bent down, and whispered something in his son's ears. Then, Nico began blinking rapidly, and fell onto the ground. "Ughhh…"

"How'd you do that?" Everyone looked at Hades in surprise.

Hades glanced down at the floor. "Just something Maria did to get Nico and Bianca to wake up for school,"

"I ugh… My head h-hurts," Nico scrunched up his face like he was in pain and stood up, only to stagger around dizzily.

"Nico, you look like death itself," Annabeth said.

"Oh yay, that means he's back to normal," Thalia grinned.

"Ha-ha," Nico sneered. "Seriously though, stop speaking so loud,"

"Are you okay…?" Percy asked in a quiet voice.

"I'm just…" Nico didn't get to finish his sentence before he went and puked over some plants. Then went to where Percy sat and cuddled in Percy's arms.

"No, not my poor babies!" Demeter twitched. Everyone looked at her like she was crazy.

"You have a hangover," Apollo stated firmly, not even missing a heartbeat.

"How do you know this?" Annabeth asked suspiciously as Hades' jaw hit the ground in shock.

"I… I… Let's focus on the patient here," Apollo then went over to Nico and put his hand on his forehead and chanted some incantations under his breath. Soon enough, Nico didn't look so green anymore.

"I wonder what happened," A few people looked at Dionysus accusingly.

Hades glared so intensely that the said god backed away.

"I swear on my banana that I did not make Nico drunk," the wine god held up his banana in surrender.

Some wondered how that banana got there in the first place, while others (Apollo) just screamed "YOU LIAR! YOU OWE ME YOUR BANANA NOW!"

"You're barmy to make Nico bloody drunk, mate," Hermes said in a British accent.

"Hermes, you're not British," Athena rolled her eyes.

"Well, if I want to be British, than I can! If I want to be Greek, I will! If I want to be American, so be it," Hermes stood proudly as his sons cheered.

"ANYWAYS, I will get revenge. You will rue the day Dionysus, ya hear me?" Hades warned as Dionysus quickly nodded his head. "Man, if I was king of the gods, lightning would be booming in the skies right now,"

"Ha, but your not!" Zeus triumphed.

"I swear, you guys act like children," Athena rolled her eyes, picked up the book, and tossed it to Artemis.

"Hey, give us a break. We have to act 'mature' most of the time, so let us relax for a bit," Hermes snuggled in his throne, not caring that he probably looked like a kid.

**"Nobody gets the Fleece,"** Artemis began.

Wait, so no one gets the fleece?" Connor smirked.

"No, we get the fleece," Percy said.

"So you consider yourselves nobodies?" Travis continued.

"Travis…" Annabeth growled.

"Just kidding," he put his hand up in surrender.

"WAIT!" Dionysus looked up from his exclusive wine magazine and blinked. "You're coming back alive?!"

"You make it sound like it's a bad thing," Poseidon gave a pointed look while Percy rolled his eyes.

"I'm not going to lie, it would've made my life a hell lot easier," Dionysus sighed.

Zeus chose not to lecture Dionysus just this once, mostly because he wasn't too fond of Percy yet.

**"I got Nobody!" Polyphemus gloated.**

**We crept to the cave entrance and saw the Cyclops, grinning wickedly, holding up empty air. The monster shook his fist, and a baseball cap fluttered to the ground. There was Annabeth, hanging upside down by her legs.**

Thalia crossed her arms, and she looked like she wanted to swear.

**"Hah!" the Cyclops said. "Nasty invisible girl! Already got feisty one for wife. Means you gotta be grilled with mango chutney!"**

"You know what? Whenever we fight monsters, all they ever want to do is beat us to death or eat us for lunch. I've never ever met a monster who offers us tea and biscuits," Connor crossed his arms frowning.

"I did," Annabeth grinned cheekily. "I met one in the labyrinth who offered us sandwiches and lemonade,"

"Wait, wasn't that…" Realization dawned on Percy's, Nico's face, and they began laughing uncontrollably.

"Hmm, I forgot the monster's name, but I'm sure it rhymed with 'Bera',"

By then, the three of them were on the floor with red faces, laughing. Hera narrowed her eyes in suspicion, but didn't say anything.

"You guys are the weirdest couple ever," Hephaestus snorted.

"Tell me something I don't know," Thalia rolled her eyes.

**Annabeth struggled, but she looked dazed. She had a nasty cut on her forehead. Her eyes were glassy.**

Athena looked at Annabeth to gauge her facial expression. But mostly, she wanted reassurance that her favourite daughter was here.

**"I'll rush him," I whispered to Clarisse. **

"Or, you can mug him and steal all his sheep bones," Travis said with an amused grin.

"Yes, then with those sheep bones, I can thump you in the head in hope that maybe your brain will recover from that terrible disease that makes you say weird stuff," Annabeth said.

"Ooh, harsh," Connor chuckled.

**"Our ship is around the back of the island. You and Grover—"**

**"No way," they said at the same time. Clarisse had armed herself with a highly collectible rams-horn spear from the Cyclops's cave. Grover had found a sheep's thigh bone, which he didn't look too happy about, but he was gripping it like a club, ready to attack.**

"Let's go satyr, go beat that cyclops to death," Ares laughed maniacally.

"Uh… Didn't you think he was a wimp?"

"Yes, but who doesn't want to see a satyr versus a cyclops! THIS IS GOING TO BE SO FUN!"

"You see, if I had normal children, they wouldn't be obsessing over bloodshed," Hera sighed.

Oh please, with you as a mother, none of your children will ever be normal, Annabeth thought.

**"We'll take him together," Clarisse growled.**

**"Yeah," Grover said. Then he blinked, like he couldn't believe he'd just agreed with Clarisse about something.**

"Ha, I know how he feels,"

**"All right," I said. "Attack plan Macedonia."**

**They nodded. We'd all taken the same training courses at Camp Half-Blood. They knew what I was talking about. They would sneak around either side and attack the Cyclops from the flanks while I held his attention in the front. Probably what this meant was that we'd all die instead of just me, but I was grateful for the help.**

**I hefted my sword and shouted, "Hey, Ugly!"**

**The giant whirled toward me. "Another one? Who are you?"**

**"Put down my friend. I'm the one who insulted you."**

**"You are Nobody?"**

"You know, I can't believe Polyphemus doesn't even realise that Odysseus lived long ago,"

"Well, he is related to Poseidon," Athena smirked.

Poseidon glared.

**"That's right, you smelly bucket of nose drool!" It didn't sound quite as good as Annabeth's insults, but it was all I could think of. **

"It's okay. At least you tried your best," Demeter tried to be optimistic.

"Ugh, you sound like my teacher. I hate her." Annabeth sighed.

"What do you have against your teacher?"

"She kept order me to take a nap like I'm some little kid!"

"Naps aren't half bad you know. You didn't have to do any homework and it was the perfect time to prank someone," Connor piped up.

Connor and Travis looked at each other like they were sharing an inside joke.

**"I'm Nobody and I'm proud of it! Now, put her down and get over here. I want to stab your eye out again."**

**"RAAAR!" he bellowed.**

**The good news: he dropped Annabeth. **

Some people smiled.

**The bad news: he dropped her headfirst onto the rocks, where she lay motionless as a rag doll.**

They're smiles turned into frowns.

Annabeth winced. "Ouch. Just hearing about it makes me ache,"

**The other bad news: **

"Are you kidding me, more bad news?" Thalia groaned.

"Well, there are no laws against having more then one bad news at a time," Hestia said quietly.

"There should be," The daughter of Zeus huffed.

"Blah blah blah, you brats are so spoiled. Next, you'll be whining about poverty," Dionysus rolled her eyes.

"If Rachel was here, she'd be pretty mad right now," Thalia stated.

**Polyphemus barrelled toward me, a thousand smelly pounds of Cyclops that I would have to fight with a very small sword.**

**"For Pan!" Grover rushed in from the right. **

Hermes grinned widely. "I kind of like this satyr,"

**He threw his sheep bone, which bounced harmlessly off the monster's forehead. **

"Well… That was a let down," Ares sighed.

Suddenly, he stood up, pushed Nico off Percy and grabbed him by the collar and pushed him against the throne room wall. Everyone was shocked. Why was Ares doing this?

"What the freak, Ares!" Poseidon yelled. Nico was glaring murderously. Ares raised his fist.

"As much as I want to see the sea spawn get pummelled, be rational here." Athena ordered calmly.

"A-Ares…" Percy coughed, still being held against the wall.

"I am being rational here. We need a little action around here, and I chose the one who can't get hurt," Ares grinned. For a second, Percy thought he could see a glint in his eyes.

"Ares!" Poseidon barked, spraying a huge wave at the pair.

"Just one punch, please?" Ares pleaded.

"NO!" Zeus boomed. "Let the kid go,"

Ares reluctantly dropped Percy to the floor and sulked back to his seat as everyone looked at him in shock.

"I'm not a kid by the way. I'm a teenager," Percy cleared his throat and adjusted his shirt collar nervously. While Nico wrapped his arms around Percy, tightly, but protectively.

"Why couldn't I just have normal children," Hera shot Ares a glare.

"Because then life wouldn't be fun, now would it?" Apollo flashed a grin.

**Clarisse ran in from the left and set her spear against the ground just in time for the Cyclops to step on it. He wailed in pain, **

"Haha, go Clarisse!"

**and Clarisse dove out of the way to avoid getting trampled. But the Cyclops just plucked out the shaft like a large splinter and kept advancing on me.**

**I moved in with Riptide.**

Connor burst out laughing. "Oh gods, for a second there, I thought you meant that Riptide had a place, and you were moving in with 'it',"

**The monster made a grab for me. I rolled aside and stabbed him in the thigh.**

**I was hoping to see him disintegrate, **

Athena shook her head. "He's much stronger than other monsters,"

"Yes, thank you for telling us something we already know," Poseidon bowed dramatically.

Athena scowled.

**but this monster was much too big and powerful.**

**"Get Annabeth!" I yelled at Grover.**

**He rushed over, grabbed her invisibility cap, and picked her up while Clarisse and I tried to keep Polyphemus distracted.**

**I have to admit, Clarisse was brave. **

"Duh, she's a daughter of Ares," Thalia said as Ares beamed.

"Duh, she's a daughter of Ares," Percy badly imitated Thalia.

"Shut up," she thumped him on the head. "By the way, you're a horrible Thalia,"

**She charged the Cyclops again and again. He pounded the ground, stomped at her, grabbed at her, but she was too quick. And as soon as she made an attack, I followed up by stabbing the monster in the toe or the ankle or the hand.**

Just as the sentence was finished, a white flash blinded everyone momentarily, causing some people (Connor, Travis and Apollo) to scream out "THE WORLD IS ENDING, TAKE COVER!" as they bomb-dived to the ground.

Once everyone gained their sight again and calmed down (which took awhile because of some immature people), some gasped while others looked in confusion.

"You know what I just realised… the third and last person from the future is here," Percy mumbled in a daze.

"Great work, detective Percy," Annabeth said.

Nico hesitantly reached out, as if afraid that his big sister was just an illusion.

"Nico?" Bianca asked confusedly.

"Bianca?" Nico whimpered, "You're… real?"

Bianca laughed sadly. "Of course,"

Nico ran and tackled Bianca into a hug. "BIANCA!"

"I missed you…" Bianca blinked back tears.

"I missed you more."

"Wow, it feels good to touch real people," Bianca poked Nico, making him laugh.

"I'm ticklish there! Stop it,"

"Connor, Travis, write that down. We could use that to our advantage!" Thalia demanded.

"Nico ticklish… at stomach…" Travis wrote down in his handy notepad.

Hades slowly approached his two children. "Hello Bianca,"

"Hi father," Bianca said, than couldn't take it anymore and ran up to hug Hades, with Nico in tow.

"Aren't you supposed to be dead?" Hades bit his lip.

Bianca nodded her head. "I guess I'm allowed to be here for a day, thanks to Percy,"

Hades looked towards Percy. "Maybe I'll try not to kill you too much in the future,"

"Uh… thanks?" Percy said, but it came out more as a question. Everyone tried to stifle their laughter but failed.

"This is… the per-perfect reunion e-ever!" Aphrodite sniffed, dabbing her eyes so her mascara didn't run.

"And you just ruined it," Thalia rolled his eyes, but couldn't help but grin.

"Now, this is how we should behave with each other!" Hera smiled.

"Maybe we would if psycho ladies would stop pushing their family off cliffs," Hephaestus muttered under his breath so no one could hear.

After they finished hugging, Percy, Annabeth and Thalia ran up to them as everyone stayed seated.

"Bianca, you've missed a lot!" Thalia laughed as she and Annabeth gave a tight hug.

Finally, there was only Percy to say his greetings.

"Bianca... I'm sorry. It's all my fault, if I just went instead of you, you could have survived and taken care of –" Percy rambled.

"Percy!" Thalia hit him on the head to make him shut up.

"But…"

"No buts," Bianca said, making herself chuckle. "Let's just have a great time while we can… So, what are we doing right now?"

"We we're reading about me," Percy explained.

"Wow, that makes you sound self-centered," Nico teased.

"Maybe he is self-centered," Thalia countered.

"Hey! I'm just telling the truth!" Percy pouted.

Bianca chuckled. She missed hanging out with living people.

"Cue the video tape," Thalia smirked smugly, proud that she remembered.

(Bianca sees the tape)

"One question, why did you record it?" Bianca giggled.

"Long story," Percy waved his hand.

"It's not long at all," Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Either way, I don't feel like explaining."

"Oh look, it's um… Bonnie!" Dionysus yawned.

"Her name is Bianca," Hades growled while Bianca raised his eyebrows as if asking 'He's a god?' (A/N: I'm not sure if they met yet?)

"Yeah, I didn't think he was a god either," Percy whispered.

"Sit down already, I want this torture to be over," Dionysus said lazily.

Artemis resumed reading while Nico kept staring at his sister.

**But we couldn't keep this up forever. Eventually we would tire or the monster would get in a lucky shot. It would only take one hit to kill us.**

"The first minute I get here and someone's already about to die? Great," Bianca rolled her eyes.

"Welcome to the life of a demigod, Bianca," Percy said with fake enthusiasm.

**Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Grover carrying Annabeth across the rope bridge. It wouldn't have been my first choice, given the man-eating sheep on the other side, but at the moment that looked better than this side of the chasm, and it gave me an idea.**

"Yay, another one of Percy's perfect ideas," Nico joked.

Percy shrugged. "You've got to admit, my ideas aren't that bad,"

"I guess you aren't dead yet, so that's a good omen,"

"Be careful, you're going to jinx it," Hera warned.

"Too late," Dionysus shrugged.

"Fall back!" I told Clarisse.

**She rolled away as the Cyclops's fist smashed the olive tree beside her.**

**We ran for the bridge, Polyphemus right behind us. He was cut up and hobbling from so many wounds, but all we'd done was slow him down and make him mad.**

**"Grind you into sheep chow!" he promised. **

"That doesn't sound too yummy," Apollo wrinkled his nose.

"Oh please, everything sounds appetizing to you," Artemis rolled her eyes.

"That's not true, little sis,"

"Yes it is, ugly brother," Artemis sneered back.

"Aww, I know you think I'm the cutest brother in the world,"

Artemis just sighed and stopped talking.

**"A thousand curses on Nobody!"**

"Well, that won't do much,"

**"Faster!" I told Clarisse.**

**We tore down the hill. The bridge was our only chance. Grover had just made it to the other side and was setting Annabeth down. We had to make it across, too, before the giant caught us.**

**"Grover!" I yelled. "Get Annabeth's knife!"**

**His eyes widened when he saw the Cyclops behind us, but he nodded like he understood. **

"Thank the gods he did, or else I'd be a Percy-kabob." Percy smiled.

"I wonder what it would taste like if there was such thing as Percy-kabob," Hermes wondered out of nowhere.

"I think it would be like sushi on a stick or something," Thalia guessed.

"Let's please not talk about me being a Percy-kabob or sushi," Percy stuck his tongue out in disgust.

**As Clarisse and I scrambled across the bridge, Grover began sawing at the ropes.**

"That idea is better then nothing, but if Percy and Clarisse fall, well, that won't be so good," Athena noted.

**The first strand went snap!**

**Polyphemus bounded after us, making the bridge sway wildly.**

**The ropes were now half cut. Clarisse and I dove for solid ground, landing beside Grover. I made a wild slash with my sword and cut the remaining ropes. The bridge fell away into the chasm, and the Cyclops howled ... with delight, because he was standing right next to us.**

Connor and Travis tried to cover their laugh, which ended up with them snorting instead. "That's a gigantic fail,"

"Nice to know you care so much about my well-being," Percy sarcastically replied.

"Aw, don't fret young Percy-kins –" Connor teased, making some snicker.

"Stop talking to me like I'm a five year old." Percy frowned. "It's creepy,"

**"Failed!" he yelled gleefully. "Nobody failed!"**

**Clarisse and Grover tried to charge him, but the monster swatted them aside like flies.**

**My anger swelled. I couldn't believe I'd come this far, lost Tyson, suffered through so much, only to fail—stopped by a big stupid monster in a baby-blue tuxedo kilt. **

"That is pretty sad, you gotta admit,"

Percy pouted. "Not it's not!"

"You failed thanks to a monster who's wearing a blue tuxedo. How more pathetic could it get?"

"You're really good at making people feel bad," Percy sighed in defeat.

"I know," Thalia beamed.

Bianca looked at them weirdly.

**Nobody was going to swat down my friends like that! I mean ... nobody, not Nobody. Ah, you know what I mean.**

Everyone smiled amusingly.

**Strength coursed through my body. I raised my sword and attacked, forgetting that I was hopelessly outmatched. **

The room was dead silent in anticipation.

"Go cream the kid," Ares muttered.

"Cyclops. Go cream the cyclops," Athena corrected.

"Whatever."

**I jabbed the Cyclops in the belly. When he doubled over I smacked him in the nose with the hilt of my sword. I slashed and kicked and bashed until the next thing I knew, Polyphemus was sprawled on his back, dazed and groaning, and I was standing above him, the tip of my sword hovering over his eye.**

A lot of people looked at Percy in awe.

"That was awesome," Ares admitted. He seemed to be bouncing a little.

"Awesome? That was unbelievable!" Poseidon boomed proudly.

Percy blushed. "Thanks, dad,"

**"Uhhhhhhhh," Polyphemus moaned.**

**"Percy!" Grover gasped. "How did you—"**

**"Please, noooo!" the Cyclops moaned, pitifully staring up at me. His nose was bleeding. A tear welled in the corner of his half-blind eye. "M-m-my sheepies need me. Only trying to protect my sheep!"**

**He began to sob.**

**I had won. All I had to do was stab—one quick strike.**

"Do it, hurry!" Ares said in anticipation.

**"Kill him!" Clarisse yelled. "What are you waiting for?"**

**The Cyclops sounded so heartbroken, just like ... like Tyson.**

"Percy," Thalia groaned. "Why do you always have to care about other people?"

"Because my mom always told me to be a rainbow in someone else's cloud," Percy joked.

"Hm… I like your mother," Hera decided.

"And I love her," Poseidon said wistfully.

Aphrodite tried to contain her squeals as Annabeth said "Percy, you're such a mama's boy,"

"That's me," Percy pointed to himself proudly.

**"He's a Cyclops!" Grover warned. "Don't trust him!"**

"Atleast the satyr is speaking some sense,"

**I knew he was right. I knew Annabeth would've said the same thing.**

**But Polyphemus sobbed ... and for the first time it sank in that he was a son of Poseidon, too. Like Tyson. Like me. How could I just kill him in cold blood?**

**"We only want the Fleece," I told the monster. "Will you agree to let us take it?"**

**"No!" Clarisse shouted. "Kill him!"**

"I agree with Clarisse," Ares and a bunch of other people agreed.

**The monster sniffed. "My beautiful Fleece. Prize of my collection. Take it, cruel human. Take it and go in peace."**

**"I'm going to step back slowly," I told the monster. "One false move ..."**

**Polyphemus nodded like he understood.**

**I stepped back ... and as fast as a cobra, Polyphemus smacked me to the edge of the cliff.**

**"Foolish mortal!" **

Athena shook her head up and down so it looked like she agreed with Polyphemus.

"Owl head, your fat brain is going to fall out of your head if you keep doing that," Poseidon pretended to scold.

"Well wouldn't that be good for you? Without my brain, you have a bigger chance of finally being smarter than me," Athena smiled.

Poseidon was about to answer but Thalia beat him to it.

"Seriously, you two are almost as bad as Percy and Annabeth when they bicker!"

Percy and Annabeth turned. "SERIOUSLY? We're this annoying?"

"Slightly more annoying than them," Thalia pointed to Poseidon and Athena, who scowled.

"Though, at least its not as annoying when you and Nico are arguing on what you're going to do after the summer and out of camp"

"I feel so bad for you guys," Annabeth shook her head.

"Hey!," Nico and Percy yelled.

**he bellowed, rising to his feet. "Take my Fleece? Ha! I eat you first."**

"Monsters are always so cocky," Demeter rolled her eyes. "They should eat more cereal,"

**He opened his enormous mouth, and I knew that his rotten molars were the last things I would ever see.**

Poseidon scowled.

"Ew, disgusting," Aphrodite stuck out her tongue.

**Then something went whoosh over my head and thump!**

**A rock the size of a basketball sailed into Polyphemus's throat—a beautiful three-pointer, nothing but net. **

**The Cyclops choked, trying to swallow the unexpected pill. **

"He just got owned," Connor and Travis high-fived each other.

**He staggered backward, but there was no place to stagger. His heel slipped, the edge of the cliff crumbled, and the great Polyphemus made chicken wing motions that did nothing to help him fly as he tumbled into the chasm.**

"That would be a hilarious sight to see," Hermes laughed, mimicking the movements.

Apollo pretended to throw a rock, and Hermes fell down dramatically.

"NOOOOO, CURSE YOU AND YOU'RE FLYING ROCKS!" Hermes yelled and feigned death.

Everyone rolled their eyes at them.

"Dramatic baboons," Hera muttered.

**I turned.**

**Halfway down the path to the beach, standing completely unharmed in the midst of a flock of killer sheep, was an old friend.**

"Wait, an old friend of yours is standing alive in a flock of killer sheep." Artemis thought she misunderstood.

"Yup," Percy popped the 'p'.

Athena's mouth formed an 'o'. She understood who it was.

**"Bad Polyphemus," Tyson said. **

"Tyson…" Poseidon breathed in happily. "He's alive!"

"Yeah, I think we all noticed that," Hephaestus said.

**"Not all Cyclopes as nice as we look."**

"No offense, but Cyclopes don't even look friendly to start off with," Hermes pointed out.

**Tyson gave us the short version: Rainbow the hippocampus—who'd apparently been following us ever since the Long Island Sound, waiting for Tyson to play with him—**

"Remind me to give Rainbow a treat," Poseidon beamed.

**had found Tyson sinking beneath the wreckage of the CSS Birmingham and pulled him to safety. He and Tyson had been searching the Sea of Monsters ever since, trying to find us, until Tyson caught the scent of sheep and found this island.**

**I wanted to hug the big oaf, except he was standing in the middle of killer sheep. **

"I guess that would be a problem wouldn't it…" Travis said.

"Ya think?"

**"Tyson, thank the gods. Annabeth is hurt!"**

**"You thank the gods she is hurt?" he asked, puzzled.**

"Percy would never thank the gods that she's hurt. He cares about his friends too much, especially if it involves Nico" Thalia teased.

"WOAH, they're… dating?" Bianca looked with an open mouth.

"Yup!" Nico popped the 'p'. While looking at Percy.

"Well, I guess I kind of expected it," Bianca shrugged.

"I KNOW RIGHT?" Aphrodite squealed. "Aren't they just the cutest thing eveeeeer?"

"Kill me now," Percy groaned under his breath.

**"No!" I knelt beside Annabeth and was worried sick by what I saw. The gash on her forehead was worse than I'd realized. Her hairline was sticky with blood. Her skin was pale and clammy.**

Athena sucked in a long breath. "That isn't so good…" she murmured.

"No duh, Smarty Pants," Poseidon gave a pointed look.

"You're just begging to pick a fight, Barnacle Beard," Athena narrowed her eyes.

"I am soo scared!" he mocked.

With a flick of her wrist, a dozen owls appeared and began pecking at a screaming sea god.

"OHH NOOOOOO! THOSE EVIL LITTLE EYES, GET THEM AWAY!"

"Athena!" Zeus said strictly, then looked at Poseidon, and began smirking.

"ATHENA, YOU OWL HEAD! GET. THEM. AWAY." Poseidon growled threateningly.

The wisdom goddess sighed. "Fine, but next time, I won't let you off so easily."

"You've been saying that for the past millennia." Aphrodite smiled at the two adoringly.

**Grover and I exchanged nervous looks. Then an idea came to me. "Tyson, the Fleece. Can you get it for me?"**

**"Which one?" Tyson said, looking around at the hundreds of sheep.**

**"In the tree!" I said. "The gold one!"**

**"Oh. Pretty. Yes."**

"Tyson seems like a nice character," Bianca smiled.

"Oh, he is," everyone agreed.

**Tyson lumbered over, careful not to step on the sheep. If any of us had tried to approach the Fleece, we would've been eaten alive, but I guess Tyson smelled like Polyphemus, because the flock didn't bother him at all. They just cuddled up to him and bleated affectionately, as though they expected to get sheep treats from the big wicker basket. **

**Tyson reached up and lifted the Fleece off its branch. Immediately the leaves on the oak tree turned yellow. Tyson started wading back toward me, but I yelled, "No time! Throw it!"**

**The gold ram skin sailed through the air like a glittering shag Frisbee. I caught it with a grunt. It was heavier than I'd expected**

**—sixty or seventy pounds of precious gold wool.**

"That's a lot of gold wool," Travis whispered.

"I know, right?" Connor whispered back.

"Why are you guys whispering?" Hestia asked in the same tone.

The brothers look at each other for a second. "I don't know,"

**I spread it over Annabeth, covering everything but her face, and prayed silently to all the gods I could think of, even the ones I didn't like.**

"We don't like you either, runt," Ares grunted.

"But you like me, right?" Aphrodite asked.

"Well, you did make my life miserable with all your love schemes," Percy pointed out.

"OOOHHH! That sounds like so much fun! I'm so excited," Aphrodite clapped to herself.

Please. Please.

**The color returned to her face. Her eyelids fluttered open. The cut on her forehead began to close. She saw Grover and said weakly, "You're not... married?"**

**Grover grinned. "No. My friends talked me out of it."**

**"Annabeth," I said, "just lay still."**

**But despite our protests she sat up, and I noticed that the cut on her face was almost completely healed. She looked a lot better. In fact, she shimmered with health, as if someone had injected her with glitter.**

**Meanwhile, Tyson was starting to have trouble with the sheep. "Down!" he told them as they tried to climb him, looking for food. A few were sniffing in our direction. "No, sheepies. This way! Come here!"**

**They heeded him, but it was obvious they were hungry, and they were starting to realize Tyson didn't have any treats for them. They wouldn't hold out forever with so much fresh meat nearby.**

**"We have to go," I said. "Our ship is..." The Queen Anne's Revenge was a very long way away. The shortest route was across the chasm, and we'd just destroyed the only bridge. The only other possibility was through the sheep.**

**"Tyson," I called, "can you lead the flock as far away as possible?"**

**"The sheep want food."**

**"I know! They want people food! **

"Go feed Percy!" Nico teased, making Bianca thump him on the head.

Percy glared.

"He's kidding Percy. No one would ever dare feed you to the sheep because then we'd all die by the titans," Thalia said helpfully.

"You see what I have to deal with everyday?" Percy turned to Bianca, who began laughing.

**Just lead them away from the path. Give us time to get to the beach. Then join us there."**

**Tyson looked doubtful, but he whistled. "Come, sheepies! Um, people food this way!"**

**He jogged off into the meadow, the sheep in pursuit.**

**"Keep the Fleece around you," I told Annabeth. "Just in case you're not fully healed yet. Can you stand?"**

"She got dropped on a pile of hard rocks. You really think she could be perfectly healed so soon?" Hera asked.

"Well… not on normal circumstances. But with being a demigod, nothing's normal."

**She tried, but her face turned pale again. "Ohh. Not fully healed."**

**Clarisse dropped next to her and felt her chest, which made Annabeth gasp.**

**"Ribs broken," Clarisse said. "They're mending, but definitely broken."**

**"How can you tell?" I asked.**

"Because Clarisse is awesome like that," Ares spoke.

**Clarisse glared at me. "Because I've broken a few, runt! I'll have to carry her."**

**Before I could argue, Clarisse picked up Annabeth like a sack of flour and lugged her down to the beach. **

**Grover and I followed.**

**As soon as we got to the edge of the water, I concentrated on the Queen Anne's Revenge. I willed it to raise anchor and come to me. After a few anxious minutes, I saw the ship rounding the tip of the island.**

**"Incoming!" Tyson yelled. He was bounding down the path to join us, the sheep about fifty yards behind, bleating in frustration as their Cyclops friend ran away without feeding them.**

**"They probably won't follow us into the water," I told the others. "All we have to do is swim for the ship."**

**"With Annabeth like this?" Clarisse protested.**

**"We can do it," I insisted. I was starting to feel confident again. I was back in my home turf—the sea. **

**"Once we get to the ship, we're home free."**

"Hopefully," Travis added.

"You're not making things any better," Artemis said dryly.

**We almost made it, too.**

"Wait wait wait, you almost made it?" Poseidon thought he heard wrong. Or worse, he was going deaf!

"You'll find out what I mean later," Percy said.

**We were just wading past the entrance to the ravine, when we heard a tremendous roar and saw Polyphemus, scraped up and bruised but still very much alive, his baby-blue wedding outfit in tatters, splashing toward us with a boulder in each hand.**

"That's–" Artemis was cut off.

"–the end," Demeter ended. "We get it!"

"Sheesh, calm down Demeter. Haven't eaten cereal this morning, have ya," Hermes teased.

"No," Demeter huffed moodily. "Now hurry up and read on or something. I don't have all day,"


	18. Chapter 18

**"I Go Down With the Ship," **

Poseidon for once was still happy after the title. "It isn't that bad,"

"That's because you're son can't drown," Athena huffed.

"It's not like I was going to let everyone else drown," Percy said. "Though it was a close call," he added as an afterthought.

At that last comment, Athena looked ready to strangle Percy.

"I don't think that was really reassuring," Hermes said helpfully.

"No really?" Artemis smirked amusingly.

**"You'd think he'd run out of rocks," I muttered.**

"Exactly right? But nope, the rock fairy was on his side. What a jerk," Connor joked.

"Um… Wait, are you Connor or… Travis?" Bianca looked confused.

"He's Connor. Just remember that Travis is the taller one,"

"But I'm the cooler one," Connor said.

"Hey wait, aren't you two the ones who gave Phoebe the shirt with centaur blood on it?" Bianca narrowed her eyes.

"Nah, that was some other kid from the Hermes Cabin." Connor said coolly.

"Don't worry though, we punished them," Travis added.

"Are you sure?" Bianca was sure it was them, but they didn't look like they were lying.

"Yeah, poor Phoebe. She was really nice," Connor shook his head.

"Okay…" She looked sceptical, but let it go.

As they continued reading, Connor and Travis grinned each other, knowing that they again have outdone themselves. No one lies better than the Hermes and his cabin, after all.

**"Swim for it!" Grover said.**

**He and Clarisse plunged into the surf. Annabeth hung on to Clarisse's neck and tried to paddle with one hand, the wet Fleece weighing her down.**

**But the monster's attention wasn't on the Fleece.**

**"You, young Cyclops!" Polyphemus roared. "Traitor to your kind!"**

"That's not true! Don't listen to him!" Aphrodite shouted at the book.

"Yeah, Tyson's the best cyclops ever!" the demigods agreed.

"I notice that yelling at a book isn't weird anymore." Zeus shrugged.

"Yeah, because if it was, that'd mean that we're weird, and that can't be possible," Hermes scoffed.

"We're as normal as can be!" Hephaestus nodded.

"Ah, who are we kidding? We're like the weirdest bunch of misfits on the planet," Hades sighed dejectedly.

"Speak for yourself," Apollo snickered.

**Tyson froze.**

**"Don't listen to him!" I pleaded. "Come on."**

**I pulled Tyson's arm, but I might as well have been pulling a mountain. **

"Have you tried that yet?" Hestia asked curiously.

"Oh darn," Percy snapped his fingers. "That's on my bucket list,"

"You seriously have a bucket list? During the war? When we could die any second?" Annabeth asked.

"Not to be a downer or anything," Travis added in for Annabeth.

"I just made a bucket list right now," Percy grinned, tapping his forehead. "And pulling a mountain just so happens to be the first thing to do,"

"Good luck with that,"

**He turned and faced the older Cyclops. "I am not a traitor."**

**"You serve mortals!" Polyphemus shouted. "Thieving humans!"**

"Most of us are not thieves," Athena said, giving a look to Hermes.

"You can't blame me," Hermes put his hand up in mock surrender. "It's so addicting,"

"You sound like a poker player,"

"Or a Pac man player," Dionysus added.

"Only you would like that game for more than a century," Ares said dryly.

"That's because mortals don't live for more than a century, dimwit," Artemis rolled her eyes.

**Polyphemus threw his first boulder. Tyson swatted it aside with his fist.**

"Oh yeah, boulders are no match to Tyson's fists!"

**"Not a traitor," Tyson said. "And you are not my kind."**

**"Death or victory!" **

"I choose death for him and victory for Percy," Apollo loudly whispered.

"Yeah, I choose that too," Bianca responded.

"Oh and Bianca?"

"Yeah?"

"You looked epically cute today," Apollo winked.

What happened next was disturbingly nasty and hilarious, involving a certain death god.

"Now that I think about it, it's kind of gross," Hera said after the commotion died down. "Apollo is like a gazillion years old, and he's hitting on… children,"

"YES, PLEASE, JUST ANNOUNCE THAT UBER DISGUSTING COMMENT TO THE WORLD!" Artemis fake gagged.

Apollo pouted. "It's not that–"

"No please dude, don't even go there. It is nasty!" Ares cut him off.

**Polyphemus charged into the surf, but his foot was still wounded. He immediately stumbled and fell on his face. That would've been funny, except he started to get up again, spitting salt water and growling.**

**"Percy!" Clarisse yelled. "Come on!"**

**They were almost to the ship with the Fleece. If I could just keep the monster distracted a little longer ...**

**"Go," Tyson told me. "I will hold Big Ugly."**

"Big Ugly," Hermes laughed. "Is like cheesy name-calling hereditary?"

"Hey, it's not cheesy," Poseidon defended. "It's just plain too awesome for you to know,"

"Sure, you keep believing that,"

**"No! He'll kill you." I'd already lost Tyson once. I wasn't going to lose him again. "We'll fight him together."**

"That's so sweet,"

**"Together," Tyson agreed.**

**I drew my sword.**

**Polyphemus advanced carefully, limping worse than ever. But there was nothing wrong with his throwing arm. He chucked his second boulder. I dove to one side, but I still would've been squashed if Tyson's fist hadn't blasted the rock to rubble.**

"Well, thank the gods you took Tyson along after all, huh?" Travis said as Poseidon breathed out at the close call.

"You, my friend, are very welcome," Apollo gave a huge white smile to Percy.

"Thanks…?"

**I willed the sea to rise. A twenty-foot wave surged up, lifting me on its crest. I rode toward the Cyclops and kicked him in the eye, leaping over his head as the water blasted him onto the beach.**

**"Destroy you!" Polyphemus spluttered. "Fleece stealer!"**

"Dissembler," Thalia muttered.

**"You stole the Fleece!" I yelled. "You've been using it to lure satyrs to their deaths!"**

**"So? Satyrs good eating!"**

"I wouldn't know, I've never tried a satyr before," Apollo sighed.

At everyone's questionable glances and disapproving glares, he hastily added "Not that I'd like to try… Stop looking at me! Sheesh,"

"Lord Apollo, I now hereby present you with the 'weirdest person ever' award," Hermes dramatically summoned a plaque and gave it to him.

Apollo turned to his sister. "HA! And you said I would never amount to anything in my eternal life,"

"Wow, I was clearly proven wrong," Artemis said sarcastically.

"Well that's something you don't hear a lot coming from her, even if its sarcasm," Hades stated.

**"The Fleece should be used to heal! It belongs to the children of the gods!"**

**"I am a child of the gods!" Polyphemus swiped at me, but I sidestepped. "Father Poseidon, curse this thief!" **

Poseidon snorted, like he thought it was amusing.

**He was blinking hard now, like he could barely see, and I realized he was targeting by the sound of my voice.**

**"Poseidon won't curse me," I said, backing up as the Cyclops grabbed air. "I'm his son, too. He won't play favorites."**

"Oh, you're father plays favorites all the time," Zeus scowled.

"It's not like I try to. It's in human nature to compare," Poseidon shot back.

"We're not humans," Hephaestus pointed out.

"But we have human traits. Besides, whose side are you on?"

"Don't compare me to those filthy humans," Zeus declared.

"Yeah, those filthy humans you have affairs with all the time," Hera glared.

"PWNED!" Apollo shouted, causing everyone to glare at him. "Oh, it wasn't the right time, sorry."

All the demigods, especially Bianca, laughed at the shouting match that was occurring. They've long ago accepted the daily banter that happened among the Olympians.

"QUIET DOWN!" Artemis yelled as hard as she could while covering her ears. "YOU GUYS ARE SO LOUD!"

"So are you, hypocrite," Aphrodite rolled her eyes.

"I'm surprised you even know that word," Artemis sneered.

"Cat fight!" Hermes chanted.

"SHUT UP!" everyone yelled at him.

"Okay, calm down…" Athena soothed. "You guys can save this fight for later. Let's read on,"

Everyone reluctantly sat back down, but they were still glaring at each other.

**Polyphemus roared. He ripped an olive tree out of the side of the cliff and smashed it where I'd been standing a moment before. "Humans not the same! Nasty, tricky, lying!"**

"What, no way! That's only Hermes and his children!" Apollo laughed.

"True say, man," Hermes and his children grinned identical smiles.

"You know, its pathetic coming from a cyclops who eats satyrs for lunch," Bianca said.

"Yeah, but it's the life cycle. A satyr lives his life, only to be eaten by cyclops. Then, they get reincarnated as daisies, only to be plucked by little girls." Travis grinned.

"Grover would totally dislike that life cycle…" Annabeth muttered.

**Grover was helping Annabeth aboard the ship. **

**Clarisse was waving frantically at me, telling me to come on.**

**Tyson worked his way around Polyphemus, trying to get behind him.**

**"Young one!" the older Cyclops called. "Where are you? Help me!"**

**Tyson stopped.**

"Oh crap, I spy with my little eye, something bad about to happen," Apollo said.

Everyone –mostly- looked at him with a seriously? face.

"Hey, Apollo is just trying to lighten up the mood here," Hermes defended his friend. Apollo shot him a grateful look, and in return, Hermes gave him a smile like he was thinking 'Next time I do a prank, you owe me, Sunshine,'

**"You weren't raised right!" Polyphemus wailed, shaking his olive tree club. "Poor orphaned brother! Help me!"**

"I'm telling you, Polyphemus is the worst of the Cyclopes!" Thalia huffed. "They're deceitful, untrustworthy, and smelly!"

"Not including Tyson, of course," Annabeth added.

**No one moved. No sound but the ocean and my own heartbeat. Then Tyson stepped forward, raising his hands defensively. "Don't fight, Cyclops brother. Put down the—"**

**Polyphemus spun toward his voice.**

**"Tyson!" I shouted.**

**The tree struck him with such force it would've flattened me into a Percy pizza with extra olives. **

A lot of people looked worried, even some of the gods. Poseidon winced at the description.

"Percy pizza with extra olives?" Bianca repeated, trying not to laugh.

"Yeah, I taste awesome!" Percy exclaimed. "Well, atleast I think I do…"

"Stop saying that. Connor might be tempted to bite you, just to find out," Travis laughed.

"Hey!"

**Tyson flew backward, plowing a trench in the sand. **

"Yeah, you expect Tyson to help you, but then you go ahead and attack him,"

**Polyphemus charged after him, but I shouted, "No!" and lunged as far as I could with Riptide. I'd hoped to sting Polyphemus in the back of the thigh, but I managed to leap a little bit higher.**

**"Blaaaaah!" Polyphemus bleated just like his sheep, **

"Lesson number 1: You know something's wrong when you sound like your pet sheep," Connor announced in a professional voice.

Everyone rolled their eyes.

**and swung at me with his tree.**

**I dove, but still got raked across the back by a dozen jagged branches. **

"Lesson number 2: Never trust those traitorous and wretched branches."

"Connor, no one really wants you're lessons," Thalia stuck out her tongue.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah,"

"Well, there will come a day where you will need my lessons, but you'll never get them!"

"Control your kid, Hermes," Athena muttered.

**I was bleeding and bruised and exhausted. The guinea pig inside me wanted to bolt. **

**But I swallowed down my fear.**

**Polyphemus swung the tree again, but this time I was ready. I grabbed a branch as it passed, ignoring the pain in my hands as I was jerked skyward, and let the Cyclops lift me into the air. At the top of the arc I let go and fell straight against the giant's face—landing with both feet on his already damaged eye.**

"OOHH, that's gotta hurt!" all the guys exclaimed.

"DO IT AGAIN!" Ares shouted.

"You guys are so sadistic," Athena shook her head.

"I think it would be more awesome if you were wearing cleats," Thalia grinned.

"Brilliant idea," they all agreed.

**Polyphemus yowled in pain. Tyson tackled him, pulling him down. I landed next to them—sword in hand, within striking distance of the monster's heart. **

Thalia groaned. "But we all know what's going to happen next,"

"Percy can't kill Polyphemus, because he's a cyclops, just like Tyson." Demeter guessed.

"Am I that predictable?" Percy asked, mostly to himself.

"Yeah,"

**But I locked eyes with Tyson, and I knew I couldn't do it. It just wasn't right.**

Everyone sighed. "Typical Percy,"

Percy gave a guilty smile.

**"Let him go," I told Tyson. "Run."**

**With one last mighty effort, Tyson pushed the cursing older Cyclops away, and we ran for the surf.**

**"I will smash you.'" Polyphemus yelled, doubling over in pain. **

"I doubt it," Apollo said in a sing-song voice.

**His enormous hands cupped over his eye.**

**Tyson and I plunged into the waves.**

**"Where are you?" Polyphemus screamed. **

"Did he really think you were going to tell him?" Hera asked.

"Well, almost every bad guy says it… So I'm guessing he doesn't want to ruin traditions?" Nico took a long shot.

Hephaestus snorted. "He probably doesn't even watch classic movies. I mean, he lives on an isolated island, eating satyrs all day, what do you expect?"

"True,"

**He picked up his tree club and threw it into the water. It splashed off to our right.**

**I summoned up a current to carry us, and we started gaining speed. I was beginning to think we might make it to the ship, when Clarisse shouted from the deck, "Yeah, Jackson! In your face, Cyclops!"**

Athena smacked her forehead like she couldn't believe Clarisse did that.

"Oh Athena, don't hurt yourself too much. Smacking yourself won't do anything," Poseidon smirked.

Athena growled. "You are the most annoying person I've EVER met!"

"Hey! What 'bout me?" Apollo pouted.

"Not including you,"

"Why thank you, Owl Head. I greatly appreciate the compliment," Poseidon wasn't fazed.

Athena stomped her foot in frustration. "Just… STOP!"

"Stop what? I'm not doing anything," he replied innocently.

She gave a mean glare, but didn't say anything.

Everyone laughed, Poseidon the loudest.

"So… cute," Aphrodite whispered to herself.

**Shut up, I wanted to yell.**

**"Rarrr!" Polyphemus picked up a boulder. He threw it toward the sound of Clarisse's voice, but it fell short, narrowly missing Tyson and me.**

"Ahh close one!" Poseidon stated.

"No duh. We're not deaf, but we will be soon, I promise you that," Hermes said.

"Why?" Artemis asked?

"Because of all of Aphrodite's squeals and Poseidon and Athena's bickering!" Majority nodded their head in agreement.

"Thank you Aphrodite, Poseidon and Athena. That way, I won't have to listen to all you people," Dionysus drawled.

"Aww, that was even nicer than the comment you gave to us at camp!" Thalia exclaimed.

"He's warming up to us, I can feel it!" Connor laughed.

**"Yeah, yeah!" Clarisse taunted. "You throw like a wimp! Teach you to try marrying me, you idiot!"**

"Great, for once Percy wasn't the one doing something stupid," Thalia said.

"Pfft, you say it like it happens all the time," Percy waved it away.

**"Clarisse!" I yelled, unable to stand it. "Shut up!"**

**Too late. Polyphemus threw another boulder, and this time I watched helplessly as it sailed over my head and crashed through the hull of the Queen Anne's Revenge.**

Hera rubbed her temples. "You mean, that could have been prevented if the daughter of Ares hadn't taunted the dang cyclops?"

No one said a word.

**You wouldn't believe how fast a ship can sink. **

"Oh, they can sink fast," Poseidon said in a sinister manner. "It's actually pretty fun to watch when you're bored,"

"That's mean!" Demeter scolded.

"Well, when you're bored, you get really really desperate,"

"Okay so… you like to drown people," Apollo stated. "Hades, do you like to cause big fissures to swallow people up when you're bored? And Zeus, do you like to throw lightning at birds?"

"Maybe," Hades grinned while Zeus gasped angrily. "How dare you think I hurt birds! They're majestic creatures! The eagle has powerful and graceful wings, and is a symbol of power, strength, and thievery…"

Zeus continued to rant. Everyone rolled their eyes.

"Thanks a lot Apollo! Now he won't stop talking!" Artemis scolded.

"Atleast you get to know more about birds…?"

"If we were talking about sea otters, that'd be fine with me. Sea otters are cool!" Percy and Poseidon agreed together.

Some laughed at their antics, while others just shook their heads.

**The Queen Anne's Revenge creaked and groaned and listed forward like it was going down a playground slide. I cursed, willing the sea to push us faster, but the ship's masts were already going under.**

**"Dive!" I told Tyson. And as another rock sailed over our heads, we plunged underwater.**

**My friends were sinking fast, trying to swim, without luck, in the bubbly trail of the ship's wreckage. Not many people realize that when a ship goes down, it acts like a sinkhole, pulling down everything around it. **

"I knew that!" Connor said proudly. "I learned that from the Titanic,"

"Wow, good for you Connor! I learnt that in grade 5 science," Thalia clapped.

**Clarisse was a strong swimmer, but even she wasn't making any progress. Grover frantically kicked with his hooves. Annabeth was hanging on to the Fleece, which flashed in the water like a wave of new pennies.**

"Wooooow," Travis stretched out the word. "That would've been a lot of pennies,"

"And a lot of pennies means a lot of money, which results in more prank supplies, meaning more pranks," Connor smiled happily.

"You can connect everything to pranks, can't you," Hera shook her head.

"How about toe nails?"

"You see, there could be this rich guy who has this toe nail disorder, where he can't grow any nails. Desperately, he resorts to buying them, which you just so happen sell yours. Therefore, you get rich, and can buy more prank supplies for pranks!" Connor explained.

"Okay, that is not weird at all," Percy chimed in sarcastically.

**I swam toward them, knowing that I might not have the strength to pull my friends out. Worse, pieces of timber were swirling around them; none of my power with water would help if I got whacked on the head by a beam.**

**We need help, I thought.**

**Yes. Tyson's voice, loud and clear in my head.**

"OH MY GODS, TYSON IS TELEPATHIC?" Hermes looked like he was going to explode.

"Well, that makes sense, they're both sons of Poseidon," Athena murmured.

"That's so cool!" Travis exclaimed, looking at Connor.

They both just stared at each other while everyone else looked back and forth curiously. After an agonizing long minute, Nico finally exclaimed "What are you guys looking at!"

"Oh well," Travis responded. "We wanted…"

"…To see if we're telepathic," Connor finished, shaking his head. "But we're not,"

Hephaestus blinked. "If knowing what each other is going to say is not telepathic, I don't know what is,"

**I looked over at him, startled. I'd heard Nereids and other water spirits speak to me underwater before, but it never occurred to me ... Tyson was a son of Poseidon. We could communicate with each other.**

**Rainbow, Tyson said.**

**I nodded, then closed my eyes and concentrated, adding my voice to Tyson's: RAINBOW! We need you!**

"It actually sounds like you're calling Iris," Dionysus mused.

"Well, she could save us instead, but I don't think she'd be too happy about it," Percy responded.

"Yeah, she'd probably just scold you for bothering her and then leave you to die," Hera smirked.

"Well, that's kind of… bad." Nico tried to think of another way of describing it.

**Immediately, shapes shimmered in the darkness below—three horses with fish tails, galloping upward faster than dolphins. Rainbow and his friends glanced in our direction and seemed to read our thoughts.**

"Ugh, it's like the whole world is telepathic but us," Apollo pouted.

"Well, only the sea world," Percy grinned happily.

"I have a solution for that!" Connor whispered.

"Oh really, what's that?" Hestia smiled playfully.

"You go to sea world, become an employee, and then BAM! You become part of the sea world family,"

"That is probably the most hilarious idea I've heard all day," everyone agreed.

**They whisked into the wreckage, and a moment later burst upward in a cloud of bubbles—Grover, Annabeth, and Clarisse each clinging to the neck of a hippocampus.**

**Rainbow, the largest, had Clarisse. He raced over to us and allowed Tyson to grab hold of his mane. His friend who bore Annabeth did the same for me.**

**We broke the surface of the water and raced away from Polyphemus's island. Behind us, I could hear the Cyclops roaring in triumph, "I did it! I finally sank Nobody!"**

**I hoped he never found out he was wrong.**

"Just wait 'till the next guy comes along and claims he's 'Nobody',"

**We skimmed across the sea as the island shrank to a dot and then disappeared.**

**"Did it," Annabeth muttered in exhaustion. "We …"**

"Wow, for once Annabeth didn't form a proper sentence," Travis grinned.

"Hey, that should be an exception, I was tired!"

Bianca couldn't help but laugh. "I have to agree with Annabeth,"

"Darn it," Travis muttered, snapping his fingers.

**She slumped against the neck of the hippocampus and instantly fell asleep.**

**I didn't know how far the hippocampi could take us. I didn't know where we were going. I just propped up Annabeth so she wouldn't fall off, covered her in the Golden Fleece that we'd been through so much to get, **

Aphrodite looked at Percy who was cuddled with Nico, then said" Ahh, young love."

Suddenly, Percy began choking.

"Oh gods, Percy. I know what Aphrodite's saying is pretty suffocating, but don't kill yourself over it," Thalia chuckled.

"I'm just…" he continued coughing while Nico patted his back. "Just choking on my… saliva,"

At that reply, everyone cracked up.

"That's a new low!" Thalia laughed.

"How does that even happen?" Bianca giggled.

"I don't even know, it just does," Percy shrugged embarrassingly.

**and said a silent prayer of thanks.**

**Which reminded me ... I still owed the gods a debt.**

**"You're a genius," I told Annabeth quietly.**

**Then I put my head against the Fleece, and before I knew it, I was asleep, too.**

Percy went up to give his dad a comforting hug, but Poseidon had other plans. He grabbed his son and placed him on his lap.

"Um… This is a little awkward," Percy fidgeted. "I think I'm just gonna…" he tried to slip away, but Poseidon pulled him back.

"Nuh uh, I need you here, just for a little bit, okay?" Poseidon half pleaded.

"Fine," Percy said, mentally yelling at himself for having a heart.

Meanwhile, everyone was laughing incredibly loud at the hilarious scene.

"Man, I feel like Santa," Poseidon mused.

"Could I have one of those cool transformers toy for Christmas?" Percy said innocently.

"Why sure, Santa can get you anything," The sea god played along.

"Yes! Those are so cool!" Percy punched his fist into the air jokingly.

By then, everyone was on the floor laughing.

"I… Cant breathe," Nico choked out.

"All you have to do is breathe in and out, Nico. You can do it!" Travis encouraged.

Bianca whacked Travis on the head, then fell down laughing again.

"I just noticed, isn't Santa a little stalkerish?"

"He sees you when you're sleeping  
He knows when you're awake  
He knows if you've been bad or good," Annabeth recited from the song.

"OH SNAP, SANTA IS A STALKER!" Thalia exclaimed.

"You better watch out  
You better not cry  
You better not pout," Percy furrowed his eyebrow in thought. "Doesn't that sound like a threat?"

"Santa is a baaaaaaaaaaaad man," Connor shook his head, while stretching the word 'bad'.


	19. Chapter 19

"I can't wait for her cereal to blow up. Maybe than she'll think cereal is a hazard and stop pestering us!"

"Would you rather eat Travis' toe or Connor's finger?" Apollo asked the demigods.

"Travis' toe, definitely. You never know where that finger's been with Connor," Annabeth said.

"Is this what you talk about normally?" Bianca giggled.

"Basically," the demigods chorused.

Everyone was just 'innocently' eating their lunch, when there was a loud shriek that could be heard throughout Olympus.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"Do these screams happen daily too?" Bianca asked amusingly.

"I think someone's upset," Travis said.

Athena turned to him in disdain. "No really? We didn't notice,"

Everyone rushed towards the sound, only to find themselves at Artemis' silver moon door.

"Oh gods, this is like in the horror movies. What if there's like this vicious beast eating Lady Artemis up right now?" Travis looked nervous.

"Well, if that was actually happening, why are we standing out here…?" Hephaestus asked.

"Good point…" Demeter nodded her head. "You ate cereal this morning, I assume?"

"Someone just open it, for gods' sakes!" Hades groaned.

"Not me!" Apollo yelled quickly. "Last time I went in without her permission, she hid my haiku book. It was a sad sad day for everyone because I couldn't write down my incredibly awesome haikus…" he looked down mournfully.

"Why didn't you just use normal paper…?" Hestia asked.

"Because normal paper is not worthy of my incredibly awesome haikus!" he announced dramatically.

"Yeah, maybe Apollo should go in first," Zeus announced, hoping to not hear haikus in a long time.

"Holy crap, I can't believe you guys are too wimpy to open a door!" Ares pushed everyone aside and kicked the door down.

"Could've just turned the knob," Annabeth muttered.

Everyone peeked inside, to see Artemis looking in horror at a book she held in her hands.

"Awesome room," Thalia breathed, and it certainly was. It was what you expected a goddess' room to be, and much more.

"What's wrong, Artemis?" Hestia cocked her head to the side.

"This is what's wrong," The moon goddess said with venom, throwing the book to the other side of the room.

"No book should be treated that way…" Athena looked torn.

Everyone looked at each other, than pushed Percy into the room. "Go get the book,"

"Guys! Why me! I'm only 16; I've got my whole life ahead of me!" Percy whined.

"You're the savior of Olympus! Surely, you can handle Artemis and a little book, right?" they teased.

"Its okay son, I don't think she'll place her wrath on you," Poseidon whispered helpfully while looking at Artemis, who was still glaring at the book.

"Thanks for the help," he replied sarcastically, hesitantly picking up the book as if it were a bomb that could go off any second.

"It says…" Percy's face furrowed in concentration. "Um…"

"So much for our plan of sending a demigod in," Dionysus snorted. "He can't even read for beans,"

"And no one even likes beans," Hermes added.

"You know, if you guys wanted to know what was wrong, you could've just asked me," Artemis tapped her foot impatiently.

"Okay… What's wrong?" Hera asked.

"That… mortal named a BOY after ME!" Artemis exclaimed. "A BOY! Oh those mortals have the audacity…"

"Artemis Fowl!" Percy finally deciphered.

"Kind of late there, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth laughed.

The Olympians gave a sigh of relief.

"By the gods, Artie! I thought you were going to say something important like the world was ending, or they're cancelling SpongeBob SquarePants!" Hermes said exasperatedly.

At the odd looks he got, he added "Nevermind the last example,"

"This is important!" Artemis insisted. "WE SHOULD GO BLOW UP THAT GUY WHO WROTE IT!"

"But Eoin Colfer is awesome!" The demigods said, after Annabeth had to tell them who actually wrote the book. "He's Irish! Who doesn't love their epic accents?!"

"Irish people are cute, aren't they?" Aphrodite mused.

"NO! Lord Zeus, can you go zap the author?" Artemis innocently asked.

After a disapproving glare from Hera, Zeus sighed. "Sorry, but I'm not allowed to incinerate mortals for petty reasons, no matter how much fun it is," he half-glared at his wife.

"Fine," Artemis huffed, shooing everyone out of her room.

"Oh, and Apollo?" The sun god turned around. "I'm going to hide your haiku book since you went into my room without permission,"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" This scream was loud and full of pain, like he was being tortured. "Why me? What about everyone else?"

Artemis shrugged and walked out, leaving Apollo on the floor in misery.

Finally, no more haikus for the rest of the week, Artemis thought happily.

When everyone arrived in the throne room, they were surprised to see the Stoll brothers there, sitting in their chairs patiently.

"What're you guys doing here?" Athena asked, suspiciously looking around.

"It was too crowded with you guys so we decided to just wait here 'til you guys were done," Travis grinned innocently.

"Let's hurry and finish the chapter," Apollo whined, preventing Athena from asking more questions. "I've got to eat!"

Thalia banged her head on the wall. "Oh my gods, Lord Apollo, we just ate lunch not five minutes ago!"

"Yeah, and I would've been full right now if Artemis hadn't interrupted me with her screaming!"

"Hey, that was an important issue we had to resolve," Artemis defended herself. "And I would've been more satisfied if Zeus would just zap the mortal."

"It would be very… irresponsible of me if I did that," Zeus said through gritted teeth, looking like he really wanted to do it, but Hera was giving him the evil eye.

"Father, just begin reading," Athena rolled her eyes.

"You can't boss me around like that," Zeus grumbled dramatically, but still reached for the book. "Whatever,"

That was so pointless to say, Demeter rolled her eyes in amusement.

"Before we start, take these video recorders," Hera handed them out to everyone.

"For what…?"

"To record moments, of course," she rolled her eyes. "Don't break them!"

"We'll try, no promises," they chorused, as Zeus began reading.

**"We Get a Surprise on Miami Beach,"**

"Ooh, I love surprises!" Apollo grinned like a kid on Christmasmorning.

"Not this surprise," Percy shook his head.

"Please don't tell me you die," Poseidon half-pleaded to no one.

"Sheesh Kelp Head, it's like you fell out of the stupid tree and hit every branch on the way down," Athena laughed at the thought. "Your sea spawn is obviously still alive if he's here and talking."

"Oh." Poseidon scratched his head in embarrassment. "Forgot about that. Anyways, that was mean, Owl Head. REAL MEAN."

**"Percy, wake up."**

**Salt water splashed my face. Annabeth was shaking my shoulder.**

**In the distance, the sun was setting behind a city skyline. I could see a beachside highway lined with palm trees, store fronts glowing with red and blue neon, a harbor filled with sailboats and cruise ships.**

"Huh, maybe I really should've looked closer…" Percy muttered to himself.

**"Miami, I think," Annabeth said. "But the hippocampi are acting funny."**

"Are they telling really funny jokes?"

"I wish," Annabeth muttered whilst a few looked at Apollo oddly.

"Ha, their jokes would be like: Why did the hippocampus cross the road?" Nico announced.

"Haha– Wait… Hippocampi can't walk on land though," Hermes asked confusedly.

"Exactly. It didn't cross the road," he beamed proudly.

"That joke is too cheery for my taste," Hades muttered. It should've crossed the road and then get run over by a truck."

"MY HIPPOCAMPI!" Poseidon cried out in despair while Percy glared at Hades. "EVIL!"

"Wow, I hate trick questions." Ares grumbled. "Calumniation I say!"

"What the…? Ares, do you even understand what calumniation means?" Athena furrowed her brows.

"Duh… Why else would I be using that big word?"

No comment.

**Sure enough, our fishy friends had slowed down and were whinnying and swimming in circles, sniffing the water. They didn't look happy. One of them sneezed. **

"For some reason, I imagine that looking really cute," Aphrodite giggled.

"You think everything's cute!" Dionysus exclaimed.

"Look at a tree. Ohmygosh, those are so cute! Look at a bird. Ohmygosh, that bird is ripping a worm apart, so cute!"

Everyone –except Aphrodite- laughed uncontrollably at Nico's horrible imitation.

**I could tell what they were thinking.**

**"This is as far as they'll take us," I said. "Too many humans. Too much pollution. **

"Blah-ha-ha, I told you Perce, even the hippocampi agree with me! Let's protest against humans!" Connor said in a half hysterical voice.

Everyone just looked at him like he was a purple talking potato.

"What are you doing?"

"Well, I was wondering what being Grover is like," Connor grinned.

"Oh, that's not weird at all," Hera said sarcastically.

**We'll have to swim to shore on our own."**

**None of us was very psyched about that, but we thanked Rainbow and his friends for the ride. Tyson cried a little. He unfastened the makeshift saddle pack he'd made, which contained his tool kit and a couple of other things he'd salvaged from the Birmingham wreck. He hugged Rainbow around the neck, gave him a soggy mango he'd picked up on the island, and said good-bye.**

Nico squeaked in a high pitch voice. "Ohmygosh, that relationship between Tyson and Rainbow was –"

"–SO CUTE!" Everyone sans Aphrodite finished all together. They laughed even harder when the love goddess threw her stilettos at Nico, which looked like it hurt pretty bad. Which made Percy, check to his to make sure, he wasn't injuried to badly.

**Once the hippocampi's white manes disappeared into the sea, we swam for shore. The waves pushed us forward, and in no time we were back in the mortal world. We wandered along the cruise line docks,**

Percy purposely coughed loudly.

"Yes, we get it, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Get what?"

"Huh?"

"I'm so confused,"

"Oh, nothing much," Percy waved it away. "You'll understand soon enough,"

**pushing through crowds of people arriving for vacations. Porters bustled around with carts of luggage. Taxi drivers yelled at each other in Spanish **

"Oh, Spanish is such an awesome language!" Apollo exclaimed. "Tengo calor!" (I am hot)

Athena grinned at him like pfft, yeah right! "How about French? Vous n'êtes pas." (You are not)

Apollo just looked confused, as did everyone else except Aphrodite, who understood French.

"Oh gods, I'm confused. Please speak English only! I am a bilingual person, and I will always be." Percy announced lamely.

"You know what? I'm just going to skip the part where my daughter rants about how my brother and his son have no brain and just read on." Zeus said, leaving some gaping and others laughing.

**and tried to cut in line for customers. If anybody noticed us—five kids dripping wet and looking like they'd just had a fight with a monster—they didn't let on.**

**Now that we were back among mortals, Tyson's single eye had blurred from the Mist. Grover had put on his cap and sneakers. Even the Fleece had transformed from a sheepskin to a red-and-gold high school letter jacket with a large glittery Omega on the pocket.**

"That's awesome, I'm going to get my own," Apollo beamed.

"Then, we could be the Omega crew!" Hermes continued.

"Think of all the gir–"

"Oh I know where this is going, so you guys can talking about your plans to get girls later, when I'm not here," his sister glared.

"Oh Artie dear, what are you talking about?" Apollo asked innocently.

"Save the denial and don't call me Artie!"

"No no little sister, you've got all this wrong. Hermes and I were thinking about creating this crew because it brought back nostalgic memories of our old high school days…"

A lot of people just stared at him, surprised that he used a big word.

"Apollo, we never even went to high school!" Artemis groaned while putting her hand on her forehead.

"Oh… forgot 'bout that."

**Annabeth ran to the nearest newspaper box and checked the date on the Miami Herald. She cursed. "June eighteenth! We've been away from camp ten days!"**

"Oh, this is not good," Athena muttered.

"You won't make it on time," Demeter bit her lip.

Hera couldn't help but smile at the prospect.

**"That's impossible!" Clarisse said.**

"Nothing's possible if you just believe!" Apollo sounded like a 5 year old talking about Santa.

"What the…?"

**But I knew it wasn't. Time traveled differently in monstrous places.**

"Wait, does that mean you can time travel?" Travis asked.

Connor perked up. "That'd be really awesome 'cause its like being immortal but without the… immortal part."

Everyone shook their head at the brothers.

"ADHD or not, you guys get off topic too much," Artemis commented.

"So… does that mean we can't say 'blame the ADHD,' and shrug like it's the most perfect excuse ever?"

Silence.

"Ooh-kay, I'm going to take that as a no because it is indeed a very good excuse."

"Darn, and I thought ignoring him was going to make him shut up." Athena muttered.

**"Thalia's tree must be almost dead," Grover wailed. "We have to get the Fleece back tonight."**

**Clarisse slumped down on the pavement. "How are we supposed to do that?" Her voice trembled. "We're hundreds of miles away. No money. No ride. This is just like the Oracle said. It's your fault, Jackson! **

"HOLD ON, Percy's fault?" Poseidon scoffed.

A lot of people groaned, hoping that he wouldn't go into a full blown rant. But of course, it looks like Percy's bad luck was rubbing on all of them.

"Percy did nothing but protect everyone and–"

"Dad! Hi, yeah, um… I kind of want to get home by Christmas so… can we just continue on with the book?" Percy asked nicely.

"Oh… yeah… sure…" Poseidon sat down embarrassingly.

"THANK THE GODS!" Zeus exclaimed.

Apollo grinned. "Your–"

"Shut up."

Bianca couldn't help but laugh, because she was the only one who hasn't seen this behaviour frequently.

**If you hadn't interfered—"**

**"Percy's fault?" Annabeth exploded. "Clarisse, how can you say that? You are the biggest—"**

"–pumpkin ever!"

"Wait, you callin' my kid a big pumpkin?" Ares growled.

"The real question is, do you have anything against pumpkins?" Demeter declared, with a hint of venom.

"Well… no… not really, but like, they're so orange and…"

"SAVE IT, YOU PUMPKIN HATER! I don't want to hear it. You're so shallow, not even thinking about the inside." Demeter dramatically huffed.

"It's a pumpkin!" Ares just did not understand the importance.

"Oh, you did not just say that," Nico and Hades shook their head in sympathy. "Good luck."

"IT'S NOT JUST A PUMPKIN!" Demeter screeched, almost attacking him. Luckily, they managed to hold her back.

"Oh gods, lady. Calm down," Ares' eyes widened.

"THAT'S IT!" she lunged on him.

Let's just say, you should never ever mess with Demeter and her beloved vegetables and fruit.

Zeus began reading as soon as everyone and himself had stopped laughing hysterically.

**"Stop it!" I said.**

"Should've said that before the fight started," Nico burst into a fit of chuckles, referring to the event that just happened moments ago.

**Clarisse put her head in hands. Annabeth stomped her foot in frustration. The thing was: I'd almost forgotten this quest was supposed to be Clarisse's. For a scary moment, I saw things from her point of view. How would I feel if a bunch of other heroes had butted in and made me look bad?**

"Hey hey hey, no one can ever make a child of mine look bad. Ever." Ares said, still having his huge ego.

"Except themselves," Hades added, making everyone snicker.

**I thought about what I'd overheard in the boiler room of the CSS Birmingham—**

"You just had to bring that up again," Ares muttered.

"Huh?" Bianca scratched her head confusedly.

Ares yelling at Clarisse, warning her that she'd better not fail. Ares couldn't care less about the camp, but if Clarisse made him look bad ...

**"Clarisse," I said, "what did the Oracle tell you exactly?"**

**She looked up. I thought she was going to tell me off, but instead she took a deep breath and recited her prophecy:**

**"You shall sail the iron ship with warriors of bone,**

**You shall find what you seek and make it your own,**

**But despair for your life entombed within stone,**

**And fail without friends, to fly home alone."**

Athena smirked in an 'I GOT IT!' fashion.

"Yay, the wisdom goddess finally figured it out," Poseidon clapped in a mocking way.

"I was just confirming my thoughts," She shot back. "I bet you haven't even figured it out yet,"

He shrugged. "And your point is…?"

**"Ouch," Grover mumbled.**

"Thanks Grover, like that really helped," Thalia said playfully to the book.

**"No," I said. "No ... wait a minute. I've got it."**

"He's got it! Percy's got it!" Hermes announced loudly.

"Huh…?" Dionysus got out of his half-asleep state. "Got what?"

"Exactly what we were wondering," Zeus agreed.

"I have no idea, but he's got it!" he exclaimed.

"Oh gods, quiet down, you over excited toddler! Don't you see, Dionysus is trying to sleep and… actually I don't really care about him, but you're annoying," Ares complained.

"Thanks for the love." Dionysus yawned.

**I searched my pockets for money, and found nothing but a golden drachma. "Does anybody have any cash?"**

**Annabeth and Grover shook their heads morosely. Clarisse pulled a wet Confederate dollar from her pocket and sighed.**

**"Cash?" Tyson asked hesitantly. "Like ... green paper?"**

"Unless I'm colorblind and money is actually purple, yes."

"Maybe everyone in the whole wide world is colorblind. Maybe blood is actually violet and Percy is blue."

Percy gasped. "Oh gods, I'm blue! I'm like one of those avatar people!"

"Can I be yellow?" Apollo begged.

"Maybe you already are," Nico said ominously.

"He is, because he's the sun, which is yellow," Zeus said it was like he was talking to a 3 year old.

"Why are you having such an idiotic discussion?" Athena rolled her eyes. "You guys are weirdoes,"

"Well, technically, you're calling yourself weird too because you just joined our discussion,"

That left Athena speechless.

**I looked at him. "Yeah."**

**"Like the kind in duffel bags?"**

**"Yeah, but we lost those bags days a-g-g—"**

"Did Percy forget the ability of speech?" Nico teased.

"No, do I look like an amnesiac to you?" Percy raised his eyebrows.

"Possibly."

"Actually, no, because he has nothing in that brain to forget," Thalia teased, but at Percy's glare, she added "Just kidding, but if you ever have amnesia, I hope the world doesn't end."

"It might. The world always needs Percy Jackson," said boy grinned cheekily.

How right he was.

**I stuttered to a halt as Tyson rummaged in his saddle pack and pulled out the Ziploc bag full of cash that Hermes had included in our supplies.**

"Now are you glad I actually bothered to put it in a water-proof bag?" Hermes asked.

The demigods exclaimed "Yes!" while Ares and Dionysus said "No,"

**"Tyson!" I said. "How did you—"**

**"Thought it was a feed bag for Rainbow," he said. "Found it floating in sea, but only paper inside. Sorry."**

"Wow, Tyson is pretty similar to you," Demeter said. "You both always apologize for nothing,"

"Apologies are for weaklings," Ares just had to add.

Artemis rolled her eyes. "I'm already visualizing the duct tape over your mouth."

"Well I'm visualizing throwing him off Olympus," Hades smirked evilly.

"Hey, be quiet you depressing weirdo," Ares huffed.

**He handed me the cash. Fives and tens, at least three hundred dollars.**

**I ran to the curb and grabbed a taxi that was just letting out a family of cruise passengers. "Clarisse," I yelled. "Come on. You're going to the airport. Annabeth, give her the Fleece."**

"AW, THAT'S –" Aphrodite squealed.

"–SO CUTE!"

They all burst into another fit of laughter.

"Ah, Nico, I never thought a guy's voice could get that high-pitched," Thalia had tears coming out of her eyes.

"It's like you didn't even hit puberty yet,"

Nico blushed like crazy. "SHUT UP!"

"You've got to stop doing that," Aphrodite glared. "It's only cool when I do it, 'cause I'm the love goddess!"

"It's not cool at all," Annabeth blanched.

**I'm not sure which of them looked more stunned as I took the Fleece leather jacket from Annabeth, tucked the cash into its pocket, and put it in Clarisse's arms.**

**Clarisse said, "You'd let me—"**

**"It's your quest," I said. "We only have enough money for one flight. Besides, I can't travel by air. Zeus would blast me into a million pieces. **

"True that," Said god grinned.

"Why are you so against him, brother?" Hestia asked, even though she knew the answer. But why couldn't they change their ways?

"Because… because… he's… he's Percy!" Zeus made big hand gestures, not believing that someone just asked him that.

"Yup, he's Percy all right," Thalia said.

"Well… he's Poseidon's son and I'm… I'm Zeus!" he sighed exasperatedly. "Whatever, you get what I mean!"

A few scratched their heads in confusion, but majority understood the explanation that was not well explained.

**That's what the prophecy meant: you'd fail without friends, meaning you'd need our help, but you'd have to fly home alone. You have to get the Fleece back safely."**

**I could see her mind working—suspicious at first, wondering what trick I was playing, then finally deciding I meant what I said.**

**She jumped in the cab. "You can count on me. I won't fail."**

"Good, because we wouldn't want father's daughter dying or the camp to be doomed, now would we," Dionysus said.

"I don't understand why you're using sarcasm when it's true that we wouldn't want that to happen," Hephaestus pointed out.

"Do not ever question my sarcasm," he frowned.

"Someone's off his knocker," Hermes inconspicuously whistled.

**"Not failing would be good."**

**The cab peeled out in a cloud of exhaust. The Fleece was on its way.**

**"Percy," Annabeth said, "that was so—"**

**"Generous?" Grover offered.**

"Probably,"

**"Insane," Annabeth corrected. **

"DING DING DING, and we have a winner!" Nico exclaimed.

"Now Nico, don't say he's insane. He is, but don't say it out loud," Bianca whispered.

"Ah, too late,"

**"You're betting the lives of everybody at camp that Clarisse will get the Fleece safely back by tonight?"**

"Yup, that's something Percy would do," Travis said. "But if she failed, I would've killed you. Oh wait, you and I would be dead already…"

Everyone laughed.

"Yes, well I guess that would get in the way of you killing me, huh?" Percy smiled.

**"It's her quest," I said. "She deserves a chance."**

**"Percy is nice," Tyson said.**

**"Percy is too nice," Annabeth grumbled, **

"Atleast I'm not too mean," Percy grinned.

"You say it like it's a good thing," Ares commented.

"Haha, good one," Apollo held up his hand for a high-five.

**but I couldn't help thinking that maybe, just maybe, she was a little impressed. I'd surprised her, anyway. **

"Percy, you surprise me all the time," Thalia smirked.

"Really?" Percy grinned.

"Yeah. I never thought someone could be so clueless, impulsive and stubborn, all at once!"

"Aww, thanks, I love you too, Thals," he gave a hearty laugh.

The gods were weirded out by this exchange of words.

"I'm just going to trust that this happens a lot and is very normal behaviour." Hestia gave a smile.

"Probably a good idea," Bianca agreed.

**And that wasn't easy to do.**

"You can say that again," the demigods agreed.

**"Come on," I told my friends. "Let's find another way home."**

**That's when I turned and found a sword's point at my throat.**

Everyone in the room groaned.

"SERIOUSLY, PERCY? SERIOUSLY?"

"Is it really my fault that I seem to have horrible luck and bad timing?"

"Of course it is, who else are we supposed to blame when things go wrong?"

"The gods…?" Percy suggested, shrinking down into his chair when the Olympians glared at him.

"That was probably not very wise to say," Bianca's eyes gleamed in amusement.

"You'll get used to it soon," Nico smiled at the face he hasn't seen in a long time.

**"Hey, cuz," said Luke. **

Sharp intakes of breath were heard.

**"Welcome back to the States."**

"I think it would be more welcoming if he wasn't there," Thalia grimaced.

"Yes, but no welcome is truly complete without your arch enemy there to try and kill you." Connor said.

"And where did you get that idea?" Hephaestus asked.

"From the internet, duh! Where else?"

"Is it just me, or does everything Connor say never makes sense?" Percy raised his eyebrows.

"That's so true. I don't think his brain is wired correctly." Bianca agreed.

"You know… I always wanted to try brain surgery," Annabeth mused jokingly. "I've read quite a few books on them, but I want to feel the actual brain,"

A lot of people looked grossed out, while Connor held his head in fear.

"Quite simple, really." Athena mumbled.

"Ew."

**His bear-man thugs appeared on either of side of us. One grabbed Annabeth and Grover by their T-shirt collars. The other tried to grab Tyson, but Tyson knocked him into a pile of luggage and roared at Luke.**

**"Percy," Luke said calmly, "tell your giant **

"CYCLOPS! HE'S A FREAKIN CYCLOPS!" Poseidon exclaimed exasperatedly.

"Wow, someone finally cracked…" Hermes said.

"It's not my fault! Wouldn't you be pretty mad if someone said to you: Aww, what a cute little elephant you are, Hermes!"

"Wait, how would someone mix up an elephant with Hermes?" Athena pointed out.

"Am I really that big and fat?" The messenger god pouted.

"That's not the point, nor is it important. The point is –"

Aphrodite cut in. "Weight and size is important, you know. It can contribute to a variety of health problems."

"Wow, you actually said something clever," Artemis feigned surprise.

"THE POINT IS –"

"Artie dear, I'm supposed to know these things. Do you think I fit into these dresses by eating fifty thousand hamburgers a day?"

"PEOPLE!" Poseidon tried to cut in, but failed.

"That's a lot of burgers," was all Apollo could say.

"You know what? Forget what I was going to say," Poseidon groaned. "Carry on with the book,"

"Okay!" everyone happily obliged, leaving the sea god growling on his throne.

**to back down or I'll have Oreius bash your friends' heads together."**

"Well that surely isn't very fun." Apollo stated.

"See, he's always obvious, and you guys never yell at him," Percy pouted while crossing his arms.

"That's because my brother has been like that for centuries, and he will never change," Artemis shook her head. "He's a loss cause,"

"Thanks… or not," Apollo pouted when he realised what she meant.

**Oreius grinned and raised Annabeth and Grover off the ground, kicking and screaming.**

**"What do you want, Luke?" I growled.**

**He smiled, the scar rippling on the side of his face.**

"The way you described it makes it sound so weird."

"His scar was like a serene blue wave, rippling towards the soft sand," Connor dramatically waved his hand.

"That's just… just…" Nico shuddered. "Ew,"

"Did wittle Nico forget the ability of speech?" Percy mocked. While smirking at him.

"Shut up, you can't use my line!"

**He gestured toward the end of the dock, and I noticed what should've been obvious. The biggest boat in port was the Princess Andromeda.**

"OHHHH!" They finally understood.

**"Why, Percy," Luke said, "I want to extend my hospitality, of course."**

"Don't you just love the typical cliché bad guy acts all casual and then they start an all out brawl?"

"No," Poseidon said blatantly.

**The bear twins herded us aboard the Princess Andromeda. They threw us down on the aft deck in front of a swimming pool with sparkling fountains that sprayed into the air. A dozen of Luke's assorted goons—snake people, Laistrygonians, demigods in battle armor—had gathered to watch us get some "hospitality."**

"RUN RUN! I DEMAND YOU TO RUN!" Poseidon pointed a finger at the book.

"You guys realise, the more intense the situation, the more absurd Poseidon becomes?"

"I wonder what he's going to act like when we start reading about the thing that happened a few weeks ago," Annabeth hinted about the war.

"Well, if it's as bad as you say, I'm guessing he's going to go hysterical," Zeus smirked. "That's be nice to watch,"

Poseidon glared at them all. "Nice to know you guys are having fun with my emotions!"

**"And so, the Fleece," Luke mused. "Where is it?" He looked us over, prodding my shirt with the tip of his sword, poking Grover's jeans.**

**"Hey!" Grover yelled. "That's real goat fur under there!"**

"Good because I would be questioning his goat-ness if he had fake fur." Travis said.

"Yeah, but if he had fake fur, he could just take it off, wash it, and then put it back on," Nico reasoned. 'Ew's could be heard throughout the room. "That way, he doesn't smell so much like a barnyard animal."

"Ah, but he's half goat, so shouldn't he smell like a barnyard animal?" Hephaestus asked. "It would only make sense,"

"Sure, but the smell still isn't all that great," Poseidon joined in. "So who cares if he is a barnyard animal, wash him to death!"

"Death…" Zeus mused. "Good idea…"

"Father!" Thalia sighed exasperatedly. "No killing Grover!" Zeus frowned disappointedly.

"Wait, why are you even talking about this," Athena groaned.

"Because we're so cool." Poseidon beamed. "You're just jealous!"

"OF WHAT?!" Athena snapped. "You know what, just forget it. Continue reading."

"Interrupting our interesting conversation," Zeus grumbled under his breath.

**"Sorry, old friend." Luke smiled. "Just give me the Fleece and I'll leave you to return to your, ah, little nature quest."**

**"Blaa-ha-ha!" Grover protested. "Some old friend!"**

**"Maybe you didn't hear me." Luke's voice was dangerously calm. "Where—is—the—Fleece?"**

"We did hear you, sheesh. This kid is soo determined. Ever heard of make up, become friends, and go eat some ice cream?" Aphrodite rolled her eyes.

"Ice cream makes everything better," Hera said.

"Of course you would agree. Ice cream is made out of milk, which comes from cows," Annabeth muttered.

**"Not here," I said. I probably shouldn't have told him anything, but it felt good to throw the truth in his face. **

**"We sent it on ahead of us. You messed up."**

**Luke's eyes narrowed. "You're lying. You couldn't have ..." His face reddened as a horrible possibility occurred to him. "Clarisse?"**

**I nodded.**

**"You trusted ... you gave ..."**

"You even surprised Luke, nice job,"

"I try my best," Percy smirked.

"Yeah."

**"Agrius!"**

**The bear giant flinched. "Y-yes?"**

Zeus suddenly stopped reading. "Get that thing out of my face, I demand of you!"

Connor held his video recorder so close by Zeus' head, its no wonder the king of the gods was irritated. "But don't you wanna be filmed?"

"Yes, but not when i'm reading!"

"I got that on tape!" Connor grinned, closing it up and sitting back in his seat.

"Sheesh," Zeus glared. "I finally understand where you're coming from, Dionysus,"

"So can I come back to Olympus?" The wine got asked eagerly.

"No."

**"Get below and prepare my steed. Bring it to the deck. I need to fly to the Miami Airport, fast.'"**

**"But, boss—"**

**"Do it!" Luke screamed. "Or I'll feed you to the drakon!"**

Zeus was about to read on when a huge explosion sounded, releasing all the tension in the room. Confetti flew everywhere like snowflakes, and the smell of burnt cookies could be smelt. Two chairs were blown from their place, and Nico, Percy and Thalia were sprawled on the ground.

"WHAT IS WITH THESE INTERRUPTIONS!?" Zeus thundered moodily.

"Hermes…?" Everyone turned to said god.

"This time, it wasn't me!" he denied.

Heads turned to the only people who would've done it. The Stoll brothers. "Woops…?" they grinned sheepishly, not sounding sorry at all.

"CONNOR AND TRAVIS!" Nico, Percy, and Thalia screamed in unison.

"Hey, I didn't think the explosion would be that bad," Connor laughed.

"Though it was so huge and awesome!" Travis agreed.

"YOU GUYS WILL GET IT!" Thalia threatened darkly.

"N-now Thalia, don't do anything you'll regret…" Connor backed away slowly.

Nico took a step forward. "Shut up Connor."

"Guys! No killing people here!" Athena came in between the demigods.

"Well they deserved it," Thalia said, anger flashing in her eyes.

"Harsh…" Travis muttered nervously.

"Demigods…" Zeus said cautiously, wondering if they were going to break out into a fight. Everyone watched this in worry, or excitement.

"We will get our revenge, Stolls." Nico, Percy, and Thalia threatened.

"You know what this calls for…?" Travis looked at his brother.

"Prank wars!"

Nico, Percy and Thalia looked at each other for a second, then broke out into grins.

"Deal," they all shook hands.

"This is going to be fun," Hermes excitedly exclaimed.

Thalia turned around with a somewhat evil glint in her eyes. "Lord Apollo, we're going to need you in case of injuries,"

"Gotcha," The sun god agreed.

"I will only allow this if you agree that killing or any life-threatening injuries are not permitted," Zeus said. "Chiron would be mad if one of you died." He said this, but everyone could tell he was actually worried for his daughter.

"Just wait, this will be… interesting." Thalia whispered, as everyone settled down.

Zeus continued reading.

**The bear-man gulped and lumbered down the stairs. Luke paced in front of the swimming pool, cursing in Ancient Greek, gripping his sword so tight his knuckles turned white.**

Hermes tried not to show how hurt he was.

"Hermes! My little… brother, was it?" Apollo asked, trying to cheer him up.

"You don't even remember if I'm your brother?" he tried to smile, but it looked strained. "How sad… I think you're getting Alzheimer's!"

"Just kidding, bro," Apollo gave a big smile. "Well… Half-brother. Anyways, why did the chicken cross the road?"

Everyone groaned, as Hermes sighed. "Why?"

"Because he had hope and trust that everything would work out in the end. And that he'd make it through." Apollo gave a gentle smile.

"Thanks," Hermes laughed and gave him a hug.

Majority of the ladies quietly cooed, while Artemis smiled at her brother that she loved so much, even though most of the time she didn't show it.

"Now, if we're done with my very very lame joke, let's continue on!"

"Wow, that's the very first time he admitted something of his was lame…" Thalia noticed.

**The rest of Luke's crew looked uneasy. Maybe they'd never seen their boss so unhinged before.**

**I started thinking ... If I could use Luke's anger, get him to talk so everybody could hear how crazy his plans were ...**

**I looked at the swimming pool, at the fountains spraying mist into the air, making a rainbow in the sunset. And suddenly I had an idea.**

"Oh no, Percy has an idea! I'm scared now,"

Percy scowled. "My ideas aren't that bad,"

"Yeah, but their insane!"

"Well, if they weren't insane, they wouldn't be Percy's ideas," Annabeth laughed.

**"You've been toying with us all along," I said. "You wanted us to bring you the Fleece and save you the trouble of getting it."**

**Luke scowled. "Of course, you idiot! And you've messed everything up!"**

**"Traitor!" I dug my last gold drachma out of my pocket and threw it at Luke. As I expected, he dodged it easily.**

**The coin sailed into the spray of rainbow-colored water.**

**I hoped my prayer would be accepted in silence. I thought with all my heart: O goddess, accept my offering.**

**"You tricked all of us!" I yelled at Luke. "Even DIONYSUS at CAMP HALF-BLOOD!"**

"Haha, smart move," Poseidon grinned.

"Yeah," Athena admitted.

"Wow…" They all stared in shock. "They agreed on something!"

"And even better, it was about me," Percy began to dance around in a funny manner.

"Note to self, never let Seaweed Brain dance or sing," Annabeth noted, making Percy pout.

**Behind Luke, the fountain began to shimmer, but I needed everyone's attention on me, so I uncapped Riptide.**

**Luke just sneered. "This is no time for heroics, Percy. **

"Every second is the time for heroics!" Travis cheered.

Connor held up a sword, and shouted "FOR SPARTA!"

"YEAHH! WAIT, why Sparta?" when they realized what he said.

"I have no idea," Connor shrugged, twirling the sword. "But it's a catchy phrase,"

"WAIT!" Percy narrowed his eyes in suspicion, then quickly checked his pocket. "Is that… Riptide?"

"Oh yeah… Found your sword Percy," The child of Hermes grinned sheepishly, handing back the pen.

"How did you even get it? You know what, that was a pretty dumb question."

**Drop your puny little sword, or I'll have you killed sooner rather than later."**

**"Who poisoned Thalia's tree, Luke?"**

**"I did, of course," he snarled. **

Thalia shook her head sadly. Zeus looked pretty outraged, making Poseidon and Hades chuckle at the expression.

**"I already told you that. I used elder python venom, straight from the depths of Tartarus."**

**"Chiron had nothing to do with it?"**

**"Ha! You know he would never do that. The old fool wouldn't have the guts."**

"Chiron is not an old fool!"

"And of course he has guts, everyone that's living does," Athena muttered.

"I wish I could bring you everywhere with me, because when I meet people that I hate, you can annoy them for me," Poseidon quipped. "Oh wait, can you annoy yourself?"

"Pretty sure she cant," Hades chimed in, whilst Athena growled in irritation.

"That's too bad. It would really have helped."

"Are you always this stupid, or are you making a special effort today?" The wisdom goddess sighed.

"Ooh, and she talks!" Poseidon cracked up.

"Okay, I'm not stooping down to your idiot level,"

Poseidon would've have continued, but Zeus cleared his throat loudly, signalling he was going to continue to read.

**"You call it guts? Betraying your friends? Endangering the whole camp?"**

**Luke raised his sword. "You don't understand the half of it. I was going to let you take the Fleece ... once I was done with it."**

"Yeah right, that's what the bad guy always says."

"Liar liar, pants on fire!" Apollo sang.

"Wow, how embarrassing that would be if his pants was actually on fire…" Everyone burst out laughing at the thought.

"If only I was there at the moment," Hestia smiled warmly in a joking manner.

**That made me hesitate. Why would he let me take the Fleece? He must've been lying. But I couldn't afford to lose his attention.**

**"You were going to heal Kronos," I said.**

**"Yes! The Fleece's magic would've sped his mending process by tenfold. **

Zeus crossed his arms like he couldn't believe the demigod had the audacity to defy the gods.

**But you haven't stopped us, Percy. You've only slowed us down a little."**

**"And so you poisoned the tree, you betrayed Thalia, you set us up—all to help Kronos destroy the gods."**

**Luke gritted his teeth. "You know that! Why do you keep asking me?"**

**"Because I want everybody in the audience to hear you."**

**"What audience?"**

"The audience,"

"Yeah, like that's specific."

**Then his eyes narrowed. He looked behind him and his goons did the same. They gasped and stumbled back.**

Everyone expected the brothers to say something, but they just sat there with a low-spirited look. Then they noticed that the demigods looked downcast too.

**Above the pool, shimmering in the rainbow mist, was an Iris-message vision of Dionysus, Tantalus, and the whole camp in the dining pavilion. They sat in stunned silence, watching us.**

**"Well," said Dionysus dryly, "some unplanned dinner entertainment."**

**"Mr. D, you heard him," I said. "You all heard Luke. The poisoning of the tree wasn't Chiron's fault."**

**Mr. D sighed. "I suppose not."**

**"The Iris-message could be a trick," Tantalus suggested, but his attention was mostly on his cheeseburger, which he was trying to corner with both hands.**

**"I fear not," Mr. D said, looking with distaste at Tantalus. "It appears I shall have to reinstate Chiron as activities director. I suppose I do miss the old horse's pinochle games."**

"Aww, Dionysus likes Chiron!" Aphrodite squealed, as Dionysus turned red.

"That's preposterous!" he lamely denied.

"Nah, we all know you enjoy his company," Demeter grinned.

"I better go tell Chiron later," Hestia's eyes gleamed with amusement.

"NO!" Dionysus huffed. "I probably just thought that Tantalus was irritating!"

"Suuuuree…" No one believed him.

**Tantalus grabbed the cheeseburger. It didn't bolt away from him. He lifted it from the plate and stared at it in amazement, as if it were the largest diamond in the world. "I got it!" he cackled.**

"Darn," Travis pouted. "We should've replaced it with a rubber burger or something."

"Should've told me that 3 years ago," Connor sighed.

"Or… we could tell our past selves?" they wore mischievous smiles.

"NO! You will not infect their minds yet." Annabeth commanded.

"Oh c'mon Annie, it's not going to change the future that much."

"Shut up, I'm never listening to you again,"

"Again?" Hestia asked.

"Don't even ask."

**"We are no longer in need of your services, Tantalus," Mr. D announced.**

**Tantalus looked stunned. "What? But—"**

**"You may return to the Underworld. You are dismissed."**

Hades cackled with delight. "YES! He will be in my domain once again!"

"Father, I found out some new torture tricks recently…" Nico laughed along with his father.

"You'll have to show me later."

Bianca shuddered. "Why is my family so weird?"

"We all asked the same thing before," a lot of people agreed.

**"No! But—Nooooooooooo!"**

**As he dissolved into mist, his fingers clutched at the cheeseburger, trying to bring it to his mouth. But it was too late. He disappeared and the cheeseburger fell back onto its plate. The campers exploded into cheering.**

As did everyone in the throne room.

"Looks like karma came around and served him a dish of revenge," Travis pretended to shoot two guns then blew on the tips. "Ka-pow!"

"More like a dish of nothing," Apollo laughed. "Don't you get it? A dish of nothing? Oh nevermind…"

Everyone rolled their eyes.

**Luke bellowed with rage. He slashed his sword through the fountain and the Iris-message dissolved, but the deed was done.**

**I was feeling pretty good about myself, until Luke turned and gave me a murderous look.**

**"Kronos was right, Percy. You're an unreliable weapon. You need to be replaced."**

"Sheesh, they talk to me like I'm a tool," Percy crossed his arms.

"That's 'cause we are tools to them," Thalia scowled. Percy could tell she was also talking about the gods, though they didn't seem to realize it.

Nico agreed. "And the cruel thing is, they don't seem to realize we have feelings too."

A lot of people were taken back by the bitterness of the big three kids but the demigods knew what they were talking about.

**I wasn't sure what he meant, but I didn't have time to think about it. One of his men blew a brass whistle, and the deck doors flew open. A dozen more warriors poured out, making a circle around us, the brass tips of their spears bristling.**

**Luke smiled at me. "You'll never leave this boat alive."**

"Well that's very nice to hear," Poseidon panicked.

"Hey, looks like we did make it out alive," Percy looked like he just realized it.

"Guess you did, Perce," Nico chuckled, taking a step forward.

Together, they took a step forward and their lips met.


	20. Chapter 20

"This calls for… Family meal time!" Hera smiled.

"What is she talking about?" Thalia raised her eyebrow.

Hermes sighed. "Family meal time, the worst made-up holiday ever."

"Yeah, we have to…" Apollo gulped. "Cook. Like, no zapping food in, but actual cooking. With a pot and everything!"

"Oh wow, that's so scary," Percy said sarcastically.

And so here they were, 14 divine people, and 7 demigods, in the kitchen, whipping up some potentially yummy food. Potentially.

"Hermes, get some brown sugar!" Apollo ordered.

"Wait, why would we need brown sugar?" Hermes asked confusedly. "We're just baking the turkey."

"Yeah, but sugar taste good with everything!"

"Yuck," Thalia blanched. "I don't even know why we're eating turkey in August."

"Because we're cool like that," Connor said, while idly stirring corn that did not need to be stirred.

"Yeah," Percy agreed, giving the bowl of mashed potatoes he was holding to Demeter.

"My poor potatoes," she said sadly, taking the bowl and walking away.

"Potato murderer," Nico whispered, making Percy jump.

"Don't scare me like that!"

"Well, you were just standing there staring at the white wall. What else was I supposed to do?"

"Whatever," Percy grumbled. "And it's not like I try to kill potatoes!"

"Suuree,"

He walked over to Thalia in the corner, who was grinning sinisterly.

"What'd you do now?" he asked hesitantly, kind of nervous.

"Nothing much," she laughed evilly. "Just some revenge packed into a bag,"

"What's going on?" Bianca asked, making Percy jump in surprise. Once again.

"Dude, why is everyone popping out of nowhere today!"

"Or maybe you're sense are just getting dull," the son of Hades remarked. "By the way, get out your video camera right… now,"

"Why would–" Suddenly, Thalia and Nico both picked up water guns that were on the floor (How did he not notice that there before?) and sprayed water towards the door, which Connor and Travis just entered.

"AHH SHOOT!" Travis yelled in frustration, as water blasted at him. "I MEAN DON'T SHOOT!"

At the same time, some kind of noise that reminded him of zip lining was sounding. Everyone looked around with confused looks, until they looked up at the ceiling, and realization dawned on them. Four bags filled with something dropped down right on top of Travis and Connor, coating them with white powder and a dark liquid that looked similar to chocolate. In fact, it could've been chocolate, and probably was.

"CRAP CRAP CRAP!"

Everyone couldn't help but stop what they were doing and started laughing at the scene.

Thalia and Nico began walking and stopped right in front of the Stoll brothers.

"Told ya we would get our revenge," Thalia high-fived her partner in crime.

"I hope you guys had fun with our little prank," Nico laughed, and at the same time, both of them raised their hands, which had a whip cream can in it, and sprayed them.

"AHHHHHHH!"

"We are so giving this to Katie and the others when we get back," Percy laughed, as Bianca videotaped everything.

"Then maybe Tratie will happen," Aphrodite smiled hopefully.

"I don't really know what that is, but whatever," Hermes joined.

"HOW ARE YOU GUYS POPPING OUT OF NOWHERE?!" Percy screamed desperately.

"Hi, son," Poseidon's voice sounded from beside him.

"AHH!" he exclaimed before running off.

"What'd I do?" Poseidon asked worriedly.

"Percy's always weird like that," Annabeth reassured him.

"You know, this oddly reminds me of Epic Meal Time," Nico was making blue pancakes, for him and Percy.

"Epic meal time?" the Olympians chorused together, making them glare at each other.

"Some fattening show on Youtube," Thalia snorted. "It's a wonder they don't die from all that bacon juice,"

"Haha, but it's awesome!" Travis yelled, making Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"I'm confused…" Bianca said, the Olympians agreeing.

The guys looked at each other, then yelled "PANCAKES, AND EVEN MORE PANCAKES!" stacking more and more.

"Hey! That's enough pancakes, we're not trolls!" Artemis yelled.

"EVEN MORE PANCAKES! STACK 'EM GOOD! REAL GOOD!"

"Shit, they've gone crazy!"

"PANCAKE DAY!" Apollo cheered.

"STOP!" Annabeth yelled so loud, that everyone froze. "DON'T-PUT-ANY-MORE-ON!"

Everyone backed away, not wanting to make the scary girl any madder.

Annabeth rubbed her chin in thought, as an artist would look at their masterpiece. She slowly took out her knife, making everyone back away farther. Carefully, she began to cut, while everyone watched in curiosity.

Fifteen minutes later, and surprisingly, the demigods haven't moved an inch, so mesmerized by what Annabeth was doing. Finally, she took a step back and grinned satisfyingly.

"The… The Eiffel Tower!" Bianca pointed in awe, as Athena smiled proudly, like she expected Annabeth to do something so marvellous with a bunch of pancakes.

With the pancakes, Annabeth had intricately carved a replica of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

"Let's save it for dinner," Artemis said, making some of the guys frown.

"Is this what the Athena Cabin does all the time at Camp?" Connor scratched his head in wonder.

"Um, we're not that obsessed with food," Annabeth's voice brought them out of their stupor, and they continued with their cooking.

"I am not cooking anymore," Zeus huffed tiredly. "I am king of the gods! I should not be cooking, but rather, people should be cooking for me!"

"Shut up," Hera slapped him on the head, and walked on.

Zeus just looked on with a dumbfounded look, unused to the manners. "Uh…"

"Oh don't be shocked brother, you were acting like a spoiled brat," Poseidon nudged him.

"Yeah," Hades emerged from the shadows.

"And where we're you?" Zeus pointed an accusing finger.

"Away from you're scary wife," he replied.

The two brothers raised an eyebrow.

Hades sighed. "Fine, someone's coming over later,"

Before the Zeus or Poseidon could protest, Hades disappeared into the shadows.

"If it's a mortal, I'm zapping her," And with that, Zeus walked away with an arrogant grace, thunder booming outside.

"Dramatic," Poseidon muttered, walking to join the others.

"All in favour, raise your hand!" Zeus commanded. Poseidon, Athena, Ares, Apollo, Hephaestus, Hermes and Demeter raised their hands.

"All opposed?" Zeus, Hestia, Aphrodite, Hera, Artemis, Hades and Dionysus raised their hands.

"A tie. Well, it looks like we win, because I'm king of the gods," Zeus smirked smugly.

"Hold on! That's not fair," Poseidon protested.

"Why don't we let the demigods decide?" Athena rolled her eyes.

Zeus contemplated for a moment. "Fine."

Automatically, everyone chose their parents… except for Percy. He sat there looking very undecided.

"Well, Seaweed Brain?" Everyone looked expectantly.

"Um… I'll choose… Uh…"

"Spit it out demigod!" Athena gestured to hurry up.

"Opposing team!" he blurted out.

"YEAH!"

Poseidon sat there in disappointment. "Why son? Why would you vote against me?"

"Dad…"

"How could you, I thought you were behind me a hundred percent!" Poseidon wailed dramatically, as others rolled their eyes. "Why, why would you betray me?"

"Well, to tell you the truth…" Percy scratched his head sheepishly.

"Yes…?" Poseidon pouted sadly.

"I want to be on Nico's team"

An agonizing hour later… (It felt like years to Apollo)

Connor stepped on the marble chair, making Hera huff. "I'M KING OF THE WORLD!"

Travis went to go stand on the chair beside him. "Huh, so this is what it's like to be Lord Apollo,"

"Yeah, I'm just that cool," Apollo laughed in return.

"BOW DOWN, YOU PEASANTS! Muhahahaha!" Connor laughed.

Zeus stood up. "NEVER! I shall thwart you with my lightning bolt before I bow down to the likes of… you!"

People looked towards him, to see that he was actually being serious, which was pretty scary.

"I am your king!" Connor exclaimed.

Annabeth pushed him off and stood on the chair herself. "Not anymore," she smirked smugly down towards him.

"Chairs are for sitting, not standing on!" Hera scolded, putting her hands on her hips.

"And surfboarding!" Travis mimicked the action, but got pushed off by Dionysus soon after. (Ouch)

"Get off! Dinner's ready!" Athena demanded.

"FOOD!" all the guys and Thalia rushed down and sat properly, like the good, quiet kids they weren't.

"Moron," Artemis told her brother, who was eagerly drumming on the table with his spoon and fork.

"Boron!" he replied back smiling.

"PERIODIC TABLE!" Annabeth exclaimed, and looked around sheepishly when everyone looked at her.

Nico perked up. "Someone's coming via shadows."

"You're father, who else?" Thalia rolled her eyes.

Suddenly, Hades emerged from the shadows, with a tall, beautiful, young woman behind him. She had pale skin with black flowing hair, and was wearing a mostly white dress, with little colours on it.

"PERSEPHONE!" Demeter cried in joy, dropping the bread and went to go hug her daughter.

Apollo, quick as a flash, intercepted the bread and saved it from eternal doom. "Phew," he sighed in relief.

"Mother, how're you?" Persephone smiled brightly.

"Just peachy," Demeter replied, making Connor laugh crazily.

"Peachy, get it? Peaches?" Everyone just stared at him blankly. There was nothing funny about it.

"Anyway," Demeter diverted the conversation from an embarrassed Connor. "Thanks Hades, but this doesn't mean we're on good terms,"

"Wouldn't have it any other way," he rolled his eyes in return.

"Let's dig in, shall we?" Hestia chirped warmly. For a moment, everyone just stared at the weird assortment of foods. There was the pancake Eiffel tower, a huge bowl of corn, mash potatoes, bread, a couple large pizzas, a turkey with stuffing, and a gigantic plate of Ambrosia, which was restricted from the demigods.

The half-bloods each took a huge plate of food, and went to the throne room. Then, they each scraped a portion of food into the hearth.

"To the Olympians," they murmured.

"To the Olympians and minor gods and goddesses," Percy added.

When they entered the huge kitchen, they were greeted with warm smiles and a certain scent. The smell of a sacrifice.

"M'LORD!" someone burst through the doors, totally ignoring the demigods. "The minor gods and goddesses believe that there is a threat on Olympus. Someone has just sacrificed to us, perhaps as a bribe?"

Zeus sent a questioning glare to the demigods, then turned back to the god. "It's fine, there is no threat. Is respecting minor gods a problem?"

"N-no…" He turned around, then jumped, noticing the demigods for the first time. "I hope you did not bring more mortals up to Olympus, Lord Zeus," he said, walking out the door to tell the news to the gods and goddesses.

There was a moment of silence after that.

"Let's start eating," Percy suggested, uncomfortable about the stares.

And for the next hour or so, they all ate, talked, and acted like a normal family, aside from the occasional 'I'm gonna beat you all the way to Tartarus!' threats. Normal as this dysfunctional family could get.

**"The Party Ponies Invade,"** Athena read.

"The… party ponies?" Apollo and Hermes looked at each other. "We really do need to catch up with those centaurs, don't we?"

"If by catch up, you mean party, count us in!" Connor and Travis exclaimed.

"Don't forget to bring some wine," Dionysus sighed dejectedly. "And drink it without me!" He said that last part as if he was going to die soon.

"You're getting more depressing by the minute,"

Hermes fake gasped. "Soon you'll be just like Uncle Hades!"

"HEY!" the god of the underworld exclaimed indignantly.

"Shall I dig a big fat depressing hole for you?" Demeter volunteered.

Dionysus growled. "Stop teasing me."

"Aw, but it's so fun," Hephaestus snickered.

**"One on one," I challenged Luke. "What are you afraid of?"**

"You're the one that should be afraid of him," Thalia said. "I mean seriously, this has got to be jokes,"

"Thanks for the confidence," Percy said sarcastically.

"She's just telling the truth," Nico shrugged, not wanting Thalia shock him with lightning.

"Hey! Stop being so mean," he pouted.

"Do you want Thalia to shock you with lightning, thought so." When Nico saw Percy nodd at him.

"So are you saying that you didn't get beaten by him?"

"Well… I'm alive, and that's what matters," Percy said.

**Luke curled his lip. The soldiers who were about to kill us hesitated, waiting for his order.**

**Before he could say anything, Agrius, the bear-man, burst onto the deck leading a flying horse. It was the first pure-black pegasus I'd ever seen, with wings like a giant raven. **

**The pegasus mare bucked and whinnied. **

**I could understand her thoughts.**

"Percy's a horse whisperer,"

**She was calling Agrius and Luke some names so bad Chiron would've washed her muzzle out with saddle soap.**

"But isn't that a good thing?" Connor asked confusedly. "Then you'd have very clean muzzles, whatever those are,"

"Honestly Connor… that's actually a very valid point," Nico smirked.

Connor had a look of triumph, though everyone just rolled their eyes.

"No it isn't," Thalia pointed out.

"Shut it, Thals. You should stop putting people down! Build up their self esteem, not tear it down!" he smiled, with a hint of mocking.

"Nico, we're talking about Connor here. He has an ego the size of mount Olympus," she rolled her eyes.

"Woooow," Apollo stretched out the word in awe, his eyes darting around the vast room. "That must be really big!"

"Yup! HUGE!" Hermes gestured with his hands.

**"Sir!" Agrius called, dodging a pegasus hoof. "Your steed is ready!"**

**Luke kept his eyes on me.**

**"I told you last summer, Percy," **

"He did tell you, Mr. Jackson,"

"Hey whose side are you on?" Percy crossed his arms.

"I'm… on your side."

"Again with the sides!" Thalia groaned.

**he said. "You can't bait me into a fight."**

"And you still do," Artemis guessed.

"Hey, how'd you know?" Percy cocked his head to the side.

"It's just that you seem to infuriate a lot of people," she shrugged.

Apollo ruffled Artemis' hair playfully, making her smack his hand away.

"What're you doing?" she asked.

"You're hair looked smooth," he grinned dopily back.

"Oh… Well, that's kind of weird." She replied.

**"And you keep avoiding one," I noticed. "Scared your warriors will see you get whipped?"**

"Oooh,"

"Nice taunt, aim for his ego," Hades commented.

**Luke glanced at his men, and he saw I'd trapped him. If he backed down now, he would look weak. **

"Like the weak little man he is!" Travis retorted. "Even though he's not really weak… or little for that matter,"

"So… a man," Connor clarified.

**If he fought me, he'd lose valuable time chasing after Clarisse. **

**For my part, the best I could hope for was to distract him, giving my friends a chance to escape. If anybody could think of a plan to get them out of there, Annabeth could. On the down side, I knew how good Luke was at sword-fighting.**

**"I'll kill you quickly," he decided, and raised his weapon. **

"Holy polluting penguins!" Poseidon shook his head worriedly.

"Penguins don't pollute!" Percy blurted out, then quickly put his hand on his mouth and slouched into Nico's chest.

Everyone burst out laughing.

"Sorry," his voice was muffled. "Force of habit."

"Yup, it's Percy's obligation to defend his fellow friends of the sea," Hermes grinned.

Poseidon rolled his eyes playfully. "Of course penguins don't pollute. They are just the cutest bunch of birds ever."

**Backbiter was a foot longer than my own sword. Its blade glinted with an evil gray-and-gold light where the human steel had been melded with celestial bronze. I could almost feel the blade fighting against itself, like two opposing magnets bound together. I didn't know how the blade had been made, but I sensed a tragedy. Someone had died in the process. **

**Luke whistled to one of his men, who threw him a round leather-and-bronze shield.**

**He grinned at me wickedly.**

Hermes began to fidget a bit. It could've been because he was nervous for Percy, or worried about his son.

**"Luke," Annabeth said, "at least give him a shield."**

**"Sorry, Annabeth," he said. "You bring your own equipment to this party."**

"That's unfair,"

"Party," Artemis snorted. "Never thought a 'party' could be life-threatening,"

"They always are for us," Annabeth said.

**The shield was a problem. Fighting two-handed with just a sword gives you more power, but fighting one-handed with a shield gives you better defense and versatility. **

**There are more moves, more options, more ways to kill. I thought back to Chiron, who'd told me to stay at camp no matter what, and learn to fight. Now I was going to pay for not listening to him.**

**Luke lunged and almost killed me on the first try.**

"I thought I stopped breathing for a second," Poseidon muttered.

"Oh no Uncle P. BREATHE IN AND OUT!" Apollo joked.

**His sword went under my arm, slashing through my shirt and grazing my ribs.**

**I jumped back, then counterattacked with Riptide, but Luke slammed my blade away with his shield.**

**"My, Percy," Luke chided. "You're out of practice."**

"In my defence, I didn't have anyone or anything to train with at home," Percy pointed out.

"Now you do," Poseidon snapped his fingers.

"Uh…"

"I sent a training dummy to your apartment," he smiled cheerily.

"You do realise that he doesn't know he's a demigod yet…" Hera pointed out.

"Oh… I guess I'll just tell Sally to stuff it in the closet,"

**He came at me again with a swipe to the head. I parried, returned with a thrust. He sidestepped easily.**

**The cut on my ribs stung. My heart was racing. When Luke lunged again, I jumped backward into the swimming pool and felt a surge of strength. **

**I spun underwater, creating a funnel cloud, and blasted out of the deep end, straight at Luke's face.**

**The force of the water knocked him down, spluttering and blinded. But before I could strike, he rolled aside and was on his feet again.**

**I attacked and sliced off the edge of his shield, but that didn't even faze him. He dropped to a crouch and jabbed at my legs. Suddenly my thigh was on fire, with a pain so intense I collapsed.**

Poseidon crossed his fingers tightly, while breathing in and out slowly. "Hurry up and read,"

"Calm down, fish head," Athena rolled her eyes.

**My jeans were ripped above the knee. I was hurt. I didn't know how badly. Luke hacked downward and I rolled behind a deck chair. I tried to stand, but my leg wouldn't take the weight.**

Poseidon bit his lip in anticipation, as did others.

Ares was almost shaking in excitement. "Now this is what I'm talking about!"

**"Perrrrrcy!" Grover bleated.**

"Yes, Satyr, like you screaming out his name is so going to help him," Zeus rolled his eyes.

"Well, it might," Hermes shrugged.

**I rolled again as Luke's sword slashed the deck chair in half, metal pipes and all.**

**I clawed toward the swimming pool, trying hard not to black out. I'd never make it. Luke knew it, too. He advanced slowly, smiling. The edge of his sword was tinged with red.**

**"One thing I want you to watch before you die, Percy." He looked at the bear-man Oreius, who was still holding Annabeth and Grover by the necks. "You can eat your dinner now, Oreius. Bon appetit."**

**"He-he! He-he!" The bear-man lifted my friends and bared his teeth.**

"Someone needs to give this bear an education," Athena mumbled.

**That's when all Hades broke loose.**

"Hades broke loose? I didn't know that could happen," Apollo joked.

"Maybe he's a automaton in disguise…?" Hephaestus grinned hopefully, his fingers twitching.

"Don't touch me," Hades quickly warned, looking warily.

"Touch," Apollo laughed as he poked him.

Hades growled at Apollo, and suddenly he morphed into a piglet. Everyone stared. The piglet began to prance around the room, and for some reason, it sounded like it was laughing.

"Apollo does know that he can change back anytime right?" Hestia cleared her throat.

"Yeah, but knowing him, he probably doesn't," Artemis said.

"Okay then…" Zeus looked at his three inch tall son. "I guess we'll carry on…"

**Whish!**

**A red-feathered arrow sprouted from Oreius's mouth. With a surprised look on his hairy face, he crumpled to the deck.**

**"Brother!" Agrius wailed. He let the pegasus's reins go slack just long enough for the black steed to kick him in the head and fly away free over Miami Bay.**

**For a split second, Luke's guards were too stunned to do anything except watch the bear twins' bodies dissolve into smoke.**

**Then there was a wild chorus of war cries and hooves thundering against metal. A dozen centaurs charged out of the main stairwell.**

**"Ponies!" Tyson cried with delight.**

"They ain't called Party Ponies for nothing,"

"Hey, wouldn't they be appalled to be called Party Ponies if they're centaurs?" Percy asked, thinking of Chiron.

**My mind had trouble processing everything I saw. Chiron was among the crowd, but his relatives were almost nothing like him. There were centaurs with black Arabian stallion bodies, others with gold palomino coats, others with orange-and-white spots like paint horses. Some wore brightly colored T-shirts with Day-Glo letters that said PARTY PONIES: SOUTH FLORIDA CHAPTER. **

"WOOOOO YEAHH!" The guys eagerly shouted.

"PEOPLE!" Athena screamed, making everyone look towards her. "I'm going to throw my shoe at you if you don't stop talking."

"Yes ma'am!" Poseidon saluted mockingly.

Athena just ignored him.

**Some were armed with bows, some with baseball bats, some with paintball guns. One had his face painted like a Comanche warrior and was waving a large orange Styrofoam hand making a big Number I. Another was bare-chested and painted entirely green. A third had googly-eye glasses with the eyeballs bouncing around on Slinky coils, and one of those baseball caps with soda-can-and-straw attachments on either side.**

**They exploded onto the deck with such ferocity and color that for a moment even Luke was stunned. I couldn't tell whether they had come to celebrate or attack.**

"Guys…"

"WHAT?" Athena snapped, really irritated that everyone kept interrupting her.

"Apollo is biting me…" Thalia looked down, where a little piglet was sniffing and half biting her shoe.

"Aww! That is so cute!" Aphrodite squealed while Artemis fake gagged.

"Maybe he's hungry?" Demeter asked.

"Oh, he's always hungry," Hera waved her hand.

"Oink oink!"

"Be quiet," Artemis hushed it, making it snort and curl up beside Thalia's chair.

**Apparently both. As Luke was raising his sword to rally his troops, a centaur shot a custom-made arrow with a leather boxing glove on the end. It smacked Luke in the face and sent him crashing into the swimming pool.**

Everyone –sans Hermes- tried to contain their snickers, but failed.

"That is hilarious!" Connor laughed.

"Yeah," Hermes smiled a small smile.

**His warriors scattered. I couldn't blame them. Facing the hooves of a rearing stallion is scary enough, but when it's a centaur, armed with a bow and whooping it up in a soda-drinking hat, even the bravest warrior would retreat.**

**"Come get some!" yelled one of the party ponies.**

**They let loose with their paintball guns. A wave of blue and yellow exploded against Luke's warriors, blinding them and splattering them from head to toe. They tried to run, only to slip and fall.**

"Haha, see, paintball guns are effective against monsters!" Travis choked out between fits of laughter.

**Chiron galloped toward Annabeth and Grover, neatly plucked them off the deck, and deposited them on his back.**

**I tried to get up, but my wounded leg still felt like it was on fire.**

**Luke was crawling out of the pool.**

"Like an old grandfather turtle," Nico muttered quietly.

Everyone stared at him. "What?"

"Uh… You weren't supposed to hear that!" he protested. "Just forget it,"

"Nico, you're so weird," Thalia said.

"No, I'm/he's not!" Nico and Percy shouted.

**"Attack, you fools.'" he ordered his troops. Somewhere down below deck, a large alarm bell thrummed.**

**I knew any second we would be swamped by Luke's reinforcements. Already, his warriors were getting over their surprise, coming at the centaurs with swords and spears drawn.**

**Tyson slapped half a dozen of them aside, knocking them over the guardrail into Miami Bay. But more warriors were coming up the stairs.**

**"Withdraw, brethren!" Chiron said.**

**"You won't get away with this, horse man!" Luke shouted. **

"Oink oink!"

"Anyone speak pig here?" Hestia asked.

"Wouldn't want to listen to his thoughts anyway," Athena chimed in. "It's probably something not important,"

The piglet let out a sound that sounded like a sneer.

"Aw, come here," Aphrodite cooed, opening her hands.

It happily trotted towards the goddess of love, as Ares glared at it.

"Really Aphrodite?" Artemis raised her eyebrows.

"What? He's so cute! As long as he doesn't poop on me." Aphrodite smiled.

"Poop, poop, poop!" Hermes quietly chanted.

**He raised his sword, but got smacked in the face with another boxing glove arrow, and sat down hard in a deck chair.**

**A palomino centaur hoisted me onto his back. "Dude, get your big friend!"**

**"Tyson!" I yelled. "Come on!"**

**Tyson dropped the two warriors he was about to tie into a knot and jogged after us. He jumped on the centaur's back.**

**"Dude!" the centaur groaned, almost buckling under Tyson's weight. "Do the words 'low-carb diet' mean any thing to you?"**

"Well, to Tyson, it probably means to eat more peanut butter sandwiches."

**Luke's warriors were organizing themselves into a phalanx. But by the time they were ready to advance, the centaurs had galloped to the edge of the deck and fearlessly jumped the guardrail, as if it were a steeplechase and not ten stories above the ground. I was sure we were going to die. **

"Nope," Demeter said. "The impossible is always possible in the demigod world,"

**We plummeted toward the docks, but the centaurs hit the asphalt with hardly a jolt and galloped off, whooping and yelling taunts at the Princess Andromeda as we raced into the streets of downtown Miami.**

**I have no idea what the Miamians thought as we galloped by.**

"Maybe they thought Miami was having a pony parade for pony day!" Bianca said sarcastically.

"You're just like you're Nico. Always so sarcastic," Thalia shook her head.

"Me? Similar to my mythomagic obsessed brother?" she snorted.

"Hey, I don't like that childish stuff anymore!" Nico whined.

"Are you sure? Because I remembered you always saying that you wouldn't give up mythomagic for the world,"

"That was before…" Nico trailed off, knowing that the demigods understood what he was trying to say. Percy put his arms around him, trying to comfort him.

Bianca's face softened and she didn't feel like teasing anymore.

**Streets and buildings began to blur as the centaurs picked up speed. It felt as if space were compacting—as if each centaur step took us miles and miles. In no time, we'd left the city behind. We raced through marshy fields of high grass and ponds and stunted trees.**

**Finally, we found ourselves in a trailer park at the edge of a lake. The trailers were all horse trailers, tricked out with televisions and mini-refrigerators and mosquito netting. We were in a centaur camp.**

**"Dude!" said a party pony as he unloaded his gear. "Did you see that bear guy? He was all like: 'Whoa, I have an arrow in my mouth!'"**

"Yes, I guess that would surprise them, wouldn't it," Hephaestus said.

**The centaur with the googly-eye glasses laughed. "That was awesome! Head slam!"**

**The two centaurs charged at each other full-force and knocked heads, then went staggering off in different directions with crazy grins on their faces.**

**Chiron sighed. He set Annabeth and Grover down on a picnic blanket next to me. "I really wish my cousins wouldn't slam their heads together. They don't have the brain cells to spare."**

"I feel the same way," Athena agreed, looking at her half-brothers.

"Aw, Athena, we love you too!" Hermes laughed.

**"Chiron," I said, still stunned by the fact that he was here. "You saved us."**

**He gave me a dry smile. "Well now, I couldn't very well let you die, especially since you've cleared my name."**

"And that he's the kid of the prophecy," Nico muttered.

"Yeah, that too," Percy said unenthusiastically.

**"But how did you know where we were?" Annabeth asked.**

**"Advanced planning, my dear. I figured you would wash up near Miami if you made it out of the Sea of Monsters alive. Almost everything strange washes up near Miami."**

"He just implied that you were all strange," Dionysus laughed.

"Well, we get it from our parents," Thalia shot back.

**"Gee, thanks," Grover mumbled.**

**"No, no," Chiron said. "I didn't mean ... Oh, never mind. I am glad to see you, my young satyr. The point is, I was able to eavesdrop on Percy's Iris-message and trace the signal. Iris and I have been friends for centuries. **

"Wow, Iris is old." Hermes commented.

"And the sad moment when you realise your older," Hera glumly sighed.

"Wow, I am so glad I'm not immortal," Percy whispered very quietly.

**I asked her to alert me to any important communications in this area. **

**It then took no effort to convince my cousins to ride to your aid. As you see, centaurs can travel quite fast when we wish to. Distance for us is not the same as distance for humans."**

"Again, time travelling centaurs," Connor said. "I'd like to have one of those,"

"Ask one of Chiron's cousins. I'm sure they'd gladly give you a ride to Alaska and never come back," Thalia said dryly.

"Whoa, I just noticed… we time travelled to the past. We're…" Travis looked at his brother with glee.

"TIME TRAVELLERS!" they both chorused.

"Great, now you guys can all shut up!" Demeter exclaimed with too much cheer.

"Harsh."

**I looked over at the campfire, where three party ponies were teaching Tyson to operate a paintball gun. I hoped they knew what they were getting into.**

**"So what now?" I asked Chiron. "We just let Luke sail away? He's got Kronos aboard that ship. Or parts of him, anyway."**

"That sounds so weird," Poseidon wrinkled his nose.

"Well, you look weird, so I guess its all fair, right?" Athena grinned cheekily back, her eyes gleaming.

Poseidon rolled his eyes and chose to ignore that statement, mostly because he couldn't think of a good retort.

**Chiron knelt, carefully folding his front legs underneath him.**

"That must've been a weird sight."

"Well, certainly not the weirdest sight ever, but pretty weird," Percy grinned.

**He opened the medicine pouch on his belt and started to treat my wounds. "I'm afraid, Percy, that today has been something of a draw. We didn't have the strength of numbers to take that ship. Luke was not organized enough to pursue us. Nobody won."**

**"But we got the Fleece!" Annabeth said. "Clarisse is on her way back to camp with it right now."**

**Chiron nodded, though he still looked uneasy. **

Athena narrowed her eyes.

**"You are all true heroes. And as soon as we get Percy fixed up, you must return to Half-Blood Hill. The centaurs shall carry you."**

**"You're coming, too?" I asked.**

**"Oh yes, Percy. I'll be relieved to get home. My brethren here simply do not appreciate Dean Martin's music. **

"And we do…?" Thalia raised her eyebrows.

"Yes, yes we do," Percy informed her. "After all, it saved my life,"

"And mine," Annabeth spoke up.

"And ours!" The Stoll brothers chimed in.

"I guess we should thank Dean Martin for his horrible music, huh?"

**Besides, I must have some words with Mr. D. There's the rest of the summer to plan. So much training to do. And I want to see ... I'm curious about the Fleece."**

"Something bad is 'bout to happen…" Athena bit her lip in thought. "The fleece is a trap…"

"Nothing bad is going to happen. Nay, someone wonderful is going to happen." Thalia smirked proudly.

"No," Nico disagreed. "Something bad,"

"Yeah, and it'll change everyone's lives and ruin mine," Percy grinned innocently, making the demigods laugh and a few gods look curiously.

Thalia glared at them all.

**I didn't know exactly what he meant, but it made me worried about what Luke had said: I was going to let you take the Fleece ... once I was done with it.**

**Had he just been lying? I'd learned with Kronos there was usually a plan within a plan. The titan lord wasn't called the Crooked One for nothing. He had ways of getting people to do what he wanted without them ever realizing his true intentions.**

"Wait…" It all suddenly clicked in Athena's mind. "Thalia is in the tree. Now you're going to put an all powerful fleece on it. He wanted it to happen… Another opportunity to manipulate."

Some not so bright gods looked in confusion, but majority got it.

**Over by the campfire, Tyson let loose with his paintball gun. A blue projectile splattered against one of the centaurs, hurling him backward into the lake. The centaur came up grinning, covered in swamp muck and blue paint, and gave Tyson two thumbs up.**

"AWESOME!" Hermes exclaimed, as Apollo squealed in his lil' pig form.

"Oh man, I really want to meet the party ponies, now!" Travis grinned impatiently.

**"Annabeth," Chiron said, "perhaps you and Grover would go supervise Tyson and my cousins before they, ah, teach each other too many bad habits?"**

**Annabeth met his eyes. Some kind of understanding passed between them.**

**"Sure, Chiron," Annabeth said. "Come on, goat boy."**

**"But I don't like paintball."**

"Someone needs to teach this satyr how to take hints," Hermes rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, he's almost as clueless as Percy!"

"Hey, I resent that!" Percy protested.

"Really? It took you three years just to take a hint," Nico rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, and your the one who had to make the first move," Annabeth added.

"Eh," Percy slid low into his seat embarrassingly.

"So cute," Aphrodite sighed at them.

**"Yes, you do." She hoisted Grover to his hooves and led him off toward the campfire.**

**Chiron finished bandaging my leg. "Percy, I had a talk with Annabeth on the way here. A talk about the prophecy."**

**Uh-oh, I thought.**

**"It wasn't her fault," I said. "I made her tell me."**

**His eyes flickered with irritation. I was sure he was going to chew me out, but then his look turned to weariness. "I suppose I could not expect to keep it secret forever."**

"Camp is perfect for gossip," Dionysus rolled his eyes. "Nothing is kept a secret for long,"

**"So am I the one in the prophecy?"**

**Chiron tucked his bandages back into his pouch. "I wish I knew, Percy. You're not yet sixteen. For now we must simply train you as best we can, and leave the future to the Fates."**

**The Fates. I hadn't thought about those old ladies in a long time, but as soon as Chiron mentioned them, some thing clicked.**

**"That's what it meant," I said.**

**Chiron frowned. "That's what what meant?"**

Out of nowhere, the piglet that was rolling in Aphrodite's lap morphed back into Apollo, who fell on the floor right after.

"Aw, why'd you transform back?" Artemis asked. "It was actually peaceful for once,"

"Well, being a piglet is really weird," Apollo scratched his head. "For some reason, I always had an urge to roll in mud."

**"Last summer. The omen from the Fates, when I saw them snip somebody's life string. I thought it meant I was going to die right away, but it's worse than that. It's got something to do with your prophecy. The death they foretold—it's going to happen when I'm sixteen."**

**Chiron's tail whisked nervously in the grass. "My boy, you can't be sure of that. We don't even know if the prophecy is about you."**

**"But there isn't any other half-blood child of the Big Three!"**

"And then there's suddenly four children of the Big Three," Bianca laughed.

"Yeah," Nico chuckled. There's only three now.

**"That we know of."**

**"And Kronos is rising. He's going to destroy Mount Olympus!"**

"Nuh uh, there's no way he's going to win against us!" Apollo laughed, but it sounded too forced.

"Yes, we are very mighty and powerful," Zeus stated with full confidence. "We can win against our father. We did it once; we can do it again,"

"Getting cocky there, eh?" Hera rolled her eyes.

"Nah, we can handle that old bag of bones," Ares sneered.

"Well, his bones aren't really in a bag, more like a coffin," Nico pointed out.

"Oh, and not to mention he's in a million pieces, but slowly reforming, soon to try and take over the world." Thalia added, just to scare a few more people.

"I don't wanna know!" Hermes plugged his ears, and took deep calming breaths.

"You're evil,"

**"He will try," Chiron agreed. "And Western Civilization along with it, if we don't stop him. But we will stop him. You will not be alone in that fight."**

**I knew he was trying to make me feel better, but I remembered what Annabeth had told me. It would come down to one hero. One decision that would save or destroy the West. And I felt sure the Fates had been giving me some kind of warning about that. Something terrible was going to happen, either to me or to somebody I was close to.**

**"I'm just a kid, Chiron," **

"Woah woah woah, just a kid?" Connor put a hand on his heart and gave a fake gasp. "That is insulting to kids everywhere!"

"Yeah, kids are the future. They're very important," Annabeth agreed.

"Well, no Annie, they're important because they have the most humour. And plus, they're so creative that the best pranks come from them!" Travis exclaimed.

"Does that mean I'm a kid?" Hermes grinned cheekily.

**I said miserably. "What good is one lousy hero against something like Kronos?"**

**Chiron managed a smile. '"What good is one lousy hero'? Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain said something like that to me once, just before he single-handedly changed the course of your Civil War."**

Few of the gods smiled a small smile. "He was fantastic, wasn't he?"

"Yeah, whatever," Dionysus mumbled.

"So noble," Hermes grinned. "Brave, modest…"

"Oh stop exaggerating," Ares rolled his eyes.

The demigods looked at the gods uncomfortably.

"Oh, with them being so old, they're going to be reminiscing a lot," Aphrodite told them.

"I wonder if this is how they'll talk about me in a few hundred years," Percy mused.

"Nah, you're not important enough," Nico waved it away.

"Yeah, if being the savior of Olympus is not enough, I wonder what is," Annabeth laughed.

**He pulled an arrow from his quiver and turned the razor-sharp tip so it glinted in the firelight.**

"I have yet to find someone in our family who isn't dramatic," Bianca gave a smile.

"I'll save you the hunting dear, and just tell you to give up. Drama is in our blood," Apollo winked, causing Artemis to hit him on the head.

"Ouch! I just had something in my eye… I wasn't winking at anyone,"

"You're a dead giveaway," Hades rolled his eyes, while Artemis hit Apollo again.

"Oww… This is a free country, I can wink all I want!"

"Not when I'm here, you don't!"

**"Celestial bronze, Percy. An immortal weapon. What would happen if you shot this at a human?"**

**"Nothing," I said. "It would pass right through."**

**"That's right," he said. "Humans don't exist on the same level as the immortals. They can't even be hurt by our weapons. But you, Percy—you are part god, part human.**

"And part dolphin!" Bianca patted Percy on the head like a loyal puppy.

"I like dolphins," Poseidon smiled, while Athena stared at him like she couldn't believe they were related.

**You live in both worlds. You can be harmed by both, and you can affect both. That's what makes heroes so special.**

"That's also what makes us die a lot faster," Thalia coughed.

**You carry the hopes of humanity into the realm of the eternal. Monsters never die. **

"The down side." Percy shuddered. "We have to see their ugly faces over and over again,"

**They are reborn from the chaos and barbarism that is always bubbling underneath civilization, the very stuff that makes Kronos stronger. They must be defeated again and again, kept at bay. Heroes embody that struggle. You fight the battles humanity must win, every generation, in order to stay human. Do you understand?"**

**"I ... I don't know."**

"Ah, the typical Percy answer to everything,"

"Why thank you, I know you envy me because I have such a wonderful answer to everything and you don't,"

**"You must try, Percy. Because whether or not you are the child of the prophecy, Kronos thinks you might be. And after today, he will finally despair of turning you to his side. That is the only reason he hasn't killed you yet, you know. As soon as he's sure he can't use you, he will destroy you."**

"Good to know," Poseidon muttered darkly.

**"You talk like you know him."**

Cue face palms.

"Percy!"

**"Well, in my defence, I was pretty clueless back then," Percy said.**

"Tell us something we don't know," Thalia rolled her eyes.

**Chiron pursed his lips. "I do know him."**

**I stared at him. I sometimes forgot just how old Chiron was. "Is that why Mr. D blamed you when the tree was poisoned? Why you said some people don't trust you?"**

**"Indeed."**

**"But, Chiron ... I mean, come on! Why would they think you'd ever betray the camp for Kronos?"**

A few Olympians looked down, but others continued looking like they didn't have any shame.

**Chiron's eyes were deep brown, full of thousands of years of sadness. "Percy, remember your training. Remember your study of mythology. What is my connection to the titan lord?"**

**I tried to think, but I'd always gotten my mythology mixed up. Even now, when it was so real, so important to my own life, I had trouble keeping all the names and facts straight. I shook my head. "You, uh, owe Kronos a favor or something? He spared your life?"**

Zeus scoffed. "Like father could ever have a heart to do that,"

"All he does is eat, destroy, and eat even more," Hades said, while a few of the Olympians shuddered.

"Sounds a lot like you men," Artemis grinned.

"Hey!" the guys protested. "We don't destroy… much."

"Much." Hera rolled her eyes.

**"Percy," Chiron said, his voice impossibly soft. "The titan Kronos is my father."**

"Well…" Bianca finally stopped looking shocked. "I don't see the family resemblance."


	21. Chapter 21

"Okay, it's getting late, so this is that last chapter for the night," Zeus said.

Everyone nodded their head in agreement, though Nico looked a bit upset. Suddenly, he looked up baffled. "Uh… g-guys, Olympians…" he blinked as everyone turned towards him, some albeit reluctantly. Slowly, Nico stuck his fingers into his pockets, and pulled out a neatly folded paper. "This was not in my pocket a second ago, I swear."

After a couple seconds of silence, Apollo said "Huh, random appearing paper, what else is new?"

"Open it," Zeus commanded Nico. Hades stared annoyingly at his brother.

Nico quickly opened it, and took awhile to read it, due to his dyslexia. Everyone was waiting there impatiently and bored out of their minds, when Nico finally looked up with a grin and a twinkle in his eyes. "Well Bianca, looks like I'll see you in the morning!"

All the demigods and a few Olympians looked surprised, while everyone else looked like they didn't care.

"What?" Thalia swiped the piece of paper from Nico and tried to read it as quickly as she could.

"Dear Olympians and demigods,

Bianca di Angelo, daughter of Hades will be leaving at exactly 10:05 a.m. tomorrow morning. Be ready.

-XXXXX"

Nico shook his head and half-smirked. When he had read the note, there had been an extra line. "This'll give you time to say your goodbyes," it had said. Guess the fates prevented everyone else from seeing it but himself. Well, that sure made him feel special, for about maybe a whole 5 seconds.

"YES!" Bianca pumped her fist into the air in excitement.

"Do you know what this means?" Athena asked innocently.

"We get to party?" Dionysus asked hopefully.

"Nope, we get to read!"

Everyone stayed neutral because they were going to do that either way. They just didn't understand why Athena was so excited about it.

She tossed the book to Percy, and it ended up hitting his head. "Thanks," he grumbled as he picked up the book.

**"The Chariot Race Ends with a Bang,"** Percy read while grinning.

"The Chariot Race is still on?" Hermes perked up.

The demigods nodded as some of their parents groaned.

**We arrived in Long Island just after Clarisse, thanks to the centaurs' travel powers. **

"Ha, you didn't have to take a long plane ride,"

"Either way, the plane ride wouldn't be long. Percy would've been blown out of the sky," Annabeth said.

"She said it not me," Zeus grinned while pointing at Annabeth. That didn't stop Poseidon from sending a threatening glare to him.

**I rode on Chiron's back, but we didn't talk much, especially not about Kronos. I knew it had been difficult for Chiron to tell me. I didn't want to push him with more questions. I mean, I've met plenty of embarrassing parents, but Kronos, the evil titan lord who wanted to destroy Western Civilization? Not the kind of dad you invited to school for career day.**

"That'd be hilarious to see,"

"Hello kids, my job is to take over the world! Would anyone like to join me?" Apollo imitated, waggling his eyebrows at the last part.

The demigods dropped to the floor laughing their heads off while Zeus a few other gods looked on amusingly.

"It's okay Mr. Kronos, my mommy said not to join any strangers who want to dominate the world. Apparently, they're not very nice."

**When we got to camp, the centaurs were anxious to meet Dionysus. They'd heard he threw some really wild parties, but they were disappointed. The wine god was in no mood to celebrate as the whole camp gathered at the top of Half-Blood Hill.**

"You see, father? You are ruining my life," Dionysus whined.

The demigods stared for a second, and then burst out laughing. "Mr. D sounds like a whiny teenager!"

"Well, he is a teenager to us," Hades rubbed his temples. "As annoying as you brats." Dionysus glared.

"Dionysus, maybe this'll teach you to obey the rules next time," Zeus scolded.

The wine god had an urge to stick his tongue out, but that would just prove that he acted like a whiny teenager. Instead, he settled for crossing his arms.

**The camp had been through a hard two weeks. The arts and crafts cabin had burned to the ground**

Ares couldn't help but grin. "Good. Arts and crafts is pointless anyway."

"Finally, someone who agrees with me," Thalia said. "I mean, I thought someone would get tired of all those sparkly kids running all over camp."

"Hey," Percy pouted. "There are some useful skills you learn there… I think…"

"Yeah, I made a bird house there!" Connor perked up.

"And, the materials are perfect for pranks," Travis agreed.

from an attack by a Draco Aionius (which as near as I could figure was Latin for "really-big-lizard-with-breath-that-blows-stuff-up").

A lot of them rolled their eyes, but couldn't help smiling.

**The Big House's rooms were overflowing with wounded. **

They all frowned, wondering if everyone was okay, except for Ares. He was upset because he missed the big battle.

Aw well, atleast I got to see Prissy's battle," Ares shrugged.

**The kids in the Apollo cabin, who were the best healers, **

Apollo fake coughed loudly, and smirked proudly.

"Thanks for making my brother's ego larger then it already is," Artemis told Percy.

"No problem, ma'am." Percy saluted her playfully.

The goddesses rolled their eyes. This was probably why they thought all guys were idiots.

**had been working overtime performing first aid. Everybody looked weary and battered as we crowded around Thalia's tree.**

"Ha, I have my own tree and you don't," Thalia teased Nico.

"Well, I have my own room in the land of the dead, beat that!" he stuck out his tongue.

"Nico, hanging out with the dead is not healthy for you!" Bianca scolded him.

"But… You're dead, and I'm hanging out with you!" he exclaimed. "And I bet not many people can say they met Shakespeare these days,"

**The moment Clarisse draped the Golden Fleece over the lowest bough, the moonlight seemed to brighten, turning from gray to liquid silver. **

Percy paused for a moment, while Thalia grinned broadly. Finally, he began reading again, though much slower.

**A cool breeze rustled in the branches and rippled through the grass, all the way into the valley. Everything came into sharper focus—the glow of the fireflies down in the woods, the smell of the strawberry fields, the sound of the waves on the beach.**

"PERCY!" A few demigods exclaimed exasperatedly. "Why the Hades are you reading so slowly?"

"Because I'm trying to emphasis this wonderful scene!" He said melodramatically. "For the sake of my lovely cousin Thalia here,"

Thalia put a hand on her heart and gasped dramatically. "Aww, you are the best cousin ever!"

"Hey!" the son of Hades protested.

"Though if you want us all dead by the time this book finishes," she continued. "Go ahead and keep reading like a slow turtle!"

"Jeez Thals," Percy looked hurt for a moment.. "…I didn't know turtles could read at all,"

Suddenly Nico began laughing so hard, he had to muffle it by leaning into Percy's shoulder. Percy just looked back smiling, but half confused as to why he was laughing. "I… I thought you were actually gonna say something serious for once," Nico teased once he finally got his breath back.

**Gradually, the needles on the pine tree started turning from brown to green.**

**Everybody cheered. It was happening slowly, but there could be no doubt—the Fleece's magic was seeping into the tree, filling it with new power and expelling the poison.**

**Chiron ordered a twenty-four/seven guard duty on the hilltop, **

"Because I'm so important," Thalia said pompously.

"Ugh, and you say I have a big ego," Percy exclaimed exasperatedly.

"I don't have a big ego," she informed him. "Because everything I say is true." Then she began laughing.

Nico rolled his eyes. "You're impossible,"

"That just means I'm possible," she grinned cheekily. Zeus stared proudly at his daughter while snickering inside.

"You're hopeless," Travis joined in.

"It's got the word 'hope' in it, so I'll take it as a compliment," Thalia said, making some of the gods laugh.

"Okay, I'm not talking to you anymore," Percy pouted, making Nico poke his puffed up cheeks.

"Finally," he joked. "Peace and quiet."

Percy really had the urge to strangle him right now, but managed to restrain himself.

**at least until he could find an appropriate monster to protect the Fleece. **

"Peleus!" The demigods grinned.

"Who? Is that Percy's pet porcupine?" Apollo asked.

"I don't… have a porcupine…" Percy stared back confusedly.

"Well, you have a hellhound for a pet, why do you not have a porcupine? Like sheesh, you're so weird." By the end, Apollo was laughing like a little kid.

Several people smiled at Apollo's humorous side, while Artemis rolled her eyes, though playfully.

**He said he'd place an ad in Olympus Weekly right away.**

"I'm pretty sure no one reads that," Apollo snorted. "It's boring."

"Watch it," Athena growled threateningly.

"Well, we can guess who helped write it," Aphrodite rolled her eyes.

Apollo put his hands up in a surrendering mode. "Sorry goddess of wisdom,"

**In the meantime, Clarisse was carried on her cabin mates' shoulders down to the amphitheater, where she was honored with a laurel wreath and a lot of celebrating around the campfire.**

Ares couldn't stop smiling, he was just so proud of his daughter. She had managed to get all the glory from Prissy—Percy and his friends.

**Nobody gave Annabeth or me a second look. **

"That's kind of not fair."

"I mean, you guys did a lot of the work, and Clarisse gets all the credit,"

Percy shrugged. "I think we should all just be glad that the world didn't end that day."

Artemis half smiled, but was kind of puzzled. Didn't all men want the glory?

**It was as if we'd never left. In a way, I guess that was the best thank-you anyone could give us, because if they admitted we'd snuck out of camp to do the quest, they'd have to expel us. And really, I didn't want any more attention. It felt good to be just one of the campers for once.**

Percy agreed with his past self. He had never really gotten a chance to be one of the campers, not even now. (Not even in the future)

Nico looked over at Percy, and smiled at him while taking his hand in his.

**Later that night, as we were roasting s'mores and listening to the Stoll brothers **

The Stoll brothers both grinned and high-fived each other.

**tell us a ghost story about an evil king who was eaten alive by demonic breakfast pastries,**

The Olympians snorted in amusement, thinking that Tantalus so deserved it.

"Being eaten by demonic breakfast pastries is way better then he deserves," Thalia rolled her eyes. "You should've said that he got pooped on by a bunch of raccoons, and was pushed into a porta potty, where he was stuck there for all of eternity."

"What an… interesting thought." Zeus coughed.

"Why thank you."

**Clarisse shoved me from behind and whispered in my ear, "Just because you were cool **

Majority of the demigods gasped and stared at Percy. "Clarisse just said you were cool."

"That's impossible… 'Percy' and 'cool' in a sentence? And said by Clarisse no less! Shocking!" Thalia exaggerated.

The Olympians looked at this in amusement, and by the way the demigods were shocked, it was probably a big deal to them.

Percy rolled his eyes.

**one time, Jackson, don't think you're off the hook with Ares. **

"Yeah, you're not off the hook yet," Ares sneered.

"Expected," Percy smiled. "Truthfully, if you did let me off the hook, I'd think you were replaced with an automaton,"

At this, everyone turned to Hephaestus, who shrugged. "Well if that happens one day, don't be too surprised."

**I'm still waiting for the right opportunity to pulverize you." **

Percy smirked at that.

**I gave her a grudging smile.**

**"What?" she demanded.**

**"Nothing," I said. "Just good to be home."**

Hestia smiled warmly.

"Aw Percy, that's so cheesy," Annabeth laughed.

Percy grinned in return. "Yeah well, I'm just oozing cheese."

"You must be yummy…" Connor added.

"I am. Just don't eat me," he warned.

"No promises."

"Hey Perce, you might want to sleep with one eye open tonight." Travis said. "Connor can be unpredictable when he's hungry."

"Like all men." Artemis rolled her eyes.

**The next morning, after the party ponies headed back to Florida, Chiron made a surprise announcement: the chariot races would go ahead as scheduled. We'd all figured they were history now that Tantalus was gone, but completing them did feel like the right thing to do, especially now that Chiron was back and the camp was safe.**

"It's never safe with chariot races," Connor disagreed.

**Tyson wasn't too keen on the idea of getting back in a chariot after our first experience, **

"I don't think anyone would…" Nico said. "Except for a crazy person,"

"Like you? Yeah, we know," Thalia grinned.

"Gods you're annoying."

"Ha, did you forget who was the super duper hyper one 2 years ago?"

"Not me." Nico grinned.

The demigods rolled their eyes.

**but he was happy to let me team up with Annabeth. **

**I would drive, Annabeth would defend, and Tyson would act as our pit crew. **

**While I worked with the horses, Tyson fixed up Athena's chariot **

"Fix," Athena muttered grumpily. "Pah,"

Poseidon grinned tauntingly. Aw, Owl Head, you're just upset that my son fixed your chariot."

"No," Athena crossed her arms and frowned at Poseidon, making him laugh.

"Yes, you are."

"Nuh uh,"

"Fine, whatever you say," Poseidon put his hands up in surrender, though he was smirking. Everyone else was watching this like a tennis match going back and forth.

"Ugh, stop it! I am not mad." She sighed loudly, letting out a huge breath.

"I said 'whatever you say,'"

"I'm mad at you now. Don't talk to me," Athena crossed her arms and looked away.

"Well, you're upset now," Poseidon shrugged. "So I guess I'm right!"

This just caused some people to smile, while Athena looked like she wanted to strangle him.

**and added a whole bunch of special modifications.**

**We spent the next two days training like crazy. Annabeth and I agreed that if we won, the prize of no chores for the rest of the month would be split between our two cabins. Since Athena had more campers, they would get most of the time off, which was fine by me. I didn't care about the prize. I just wanted to win.**

**The night before the race, I stayed late at the stables. I was talking to our horses, giving them one final brushing, when somebody right behind me said, "Fine animals, horses. Wish I'd thought of them."**

"Everyone does," Poseidon smirked proudly. "But alas, me, the incredible Poseidon, has hit the mighty jackpot, and won the pot of gold before any little leprechaun can steal it,"

"You're dad is weird." Nico whispered to Percy.

"You're the one to talk," he retorted.

"Fine. Let's just say that Thalia's dad is weirdest, deal?"

"Okay!" Percy eagerly agreed as Thalia glared at them.

**A middle-aged guy in a postal carrier outfit was leaning against the stable door. **

"Hey, that's me!" Hermes sat up straighter.

"Who else would wear that outfit,"

**He was slim, with curly black hair under his white pith helmet, and he had a mailbag slung over his shoulder.**

**"Hermes?" I stammered.**

**"Hello, Percy. Didn't recognize me without my jogging clothes?"**

"Sure, you keep thinkin' that Hermes," Demeter laughed. "Only you and your children have that mischievous glint in your eyes."

**"Uh ..." I wasn't sure whether I was supposed to kneel or buy stamps from him or what. **

"Oh no," Hermes chuckled. "You don't need to buy any stamps. In fact, I like to keep them as a little souvenir from all the years I've been alive," he grinned.

"Wow, you're going to have a city worth of stamps by the time the world ends," Nico whistled.

**Then it occurred to me why he must be here. "Oh, listen, Lord Hermes, about Luke ..."**

**The god arched his eyebrows.**

**"Uh, we saw him, all right," I said, "but—"**

**"You weren't able to talk sense into him?"**

**"Well, we kind of tried to kill each other in a duel to the death."**

**"I see. You tried the diplomatic approach."**

"Diplomatic?" Everyone asked at the same time.

"Wow Hermes, you're crazy." Hephaestus whistled.

"You just noticed?" Demeter said.

**"I'm really sorry. I mean, you gave us those awesome gifts and everything. And I know you wanted Luke to come back. But ... he's turned bad.**

"Very big adjective there, Percy,"

"Why thank you."

**Really bad. **

"Even better."

**He said he feels like you abandoned him."**

Hermes looked down at his coffee as if he could see the future in the constant swirls. Sadly, it was only coffee, nothing more and nothing less.

They sat there in a moment of silence, though someone just had to go and ruin it. Oddly it wasn't Apollo this time.

"That coffee sure looks good," Dionysus stated.

"Shut up." Aphrodite threw her stilettos at his head. You know how much that hurts? Like a lot, not that it hasn't happened before though.

**I waited for Hermes to get angry. I figured he'd turn me into a hamster or something, and I did not want to spend any more time as a rodent.**

"Aw, but you looked like you were having loads of fun," Artemis snickered.

Percy shuddered. "Never again,"

**Instead, he just sighed. "Do you ever feel your father abandoned you, Percy?"**

Poseidon grimaced while Percy covered his eyes with his hands in anticipation.

"Now this, I want to hear," the Olympians leaned forward in curiosity.

**Oh, man.**

**I wanted to say, "Only a few hundred times a day." **

"Well this is off to a bad start," Zeus muttered.

**I hadn't spoken to Poseidon since last summer. I'd never been to his underwater palace. And then there was the whole thing with Tyson—no warning, no explanation. Just boom, you have a brother. You'd think that deserved a little heads-up phone call or something.**

"Atleast it's a surprise?" Nico said it like a question.

"Yup, a really great surprise," Percy gave a smile to Poseidon, who smile half-heartedly back.

**The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. I realized I did want recognition for the quest I'd completed, but not from the other campers. I wanted my dad to say something. To notice me.**

Poseidon gave a shameful look to Percy, but he just sighed and gave a half-hearted smile.

"I guess I shouldn't even be complaining," Percy played with his hands. "Atleast I got to see my dad, unlike some other kids at camp."

Now it was the Olympians' turn to feel ashamed, though a few just shrugged helplessly, thinking that they couldn't do anything about it anyway.

**Hermes readjusted the mailbag on his shoulder. "Percy, the hardest part about being a god is that you must often act indirectly, especially when it comes to your own children. **

"Yeah, I guess in a way, it's like you guys are the air," Travis said. "We can never see you, but you're still there,"

"Travis, stop–" Annabeth suddenly stopped talking and stared. "Wow, for once your not joking…"

"Forget that, he just said something wise!" Thalia said.

"Oh Travis, Annabeth's smartness has gotten to you!" Connor acted like he was going to faint.

"I see you're still the same old Connor," Percy smirked.

"Hm… We're like the air," Zeus mused. "I like it. We're just that important!"

Everyone rolled their eyes.

**If we were to intervene every time our children had a problem … well, that would only create more problems and more resentment. **

"If only Luke could hear you," Annabeth told Hermes. "He might've understood then."

Hermes nodded glumly, wishing he could just let Luke know, but it was against the rules.

Hestia and Hera shot him sympathetic looks.

**But I believe if you give it some thought, you will see that Poseidon has been paying attention to you. He has answered your prayers.**

Percy had to smile at that, making Poseidon feel much better.

**I can only hope that some day, Luke may realize the same about me. Whether you feel like you succeeded or not, you reminded Luke who he was. You spoke to him."**

"I'm not so sure…" Percy shook his head.

"Percy, can't you just listen to us for once? You did remind Luke who he was," Annabeth glared at him, making him shut his mouth.

"Okay." Percy sighed dejectedly.

**"I tried to kill him."**

"You do want him to turn you into a rodent," Thalia decided.

"Well, I don't want to lie," Percy shrugged.

"Lying is the foundation for truth," Connor said a matter-of-factly.

"No it isn't," Annabeth raised her eyebrow.

**Hermes shrugged. "Families are messy. Immortal families are eternally messy. **

The gods and goddesses instantly bobbed their head up and down in agreement.

"Yup, when someone throws you off a mountain or tries to kill you, you know that you're family," Poseidon perked up. "That, or they're your adversaries…"

"ONE TIME! THAT WAS ONE TIME!" Hera exclaimed.

"Okay chill lady," Hephaestus rolled his eyes.

**Sometimes the best we can do is to remind each other that we're related, for better or worse … and try to keep the maiming and killing to a minimum."**

"Never going to happen," Dionysus drawled.

Ares spoke up. "Hope it never happens. Maiming and killing is all the fun."

**It didn't sound like much of a recipe for the perfect family. Then again, as I thought about my quest, I realized maybe Hermes was right. **

"Maybe? Hermes is always right! Twenty four seven!" Hermes smiled, morphing back into his original upbeat personality.

**Poseidon had sent the hippocampi to help us. He'd given me powers over the sea that I'd never known about before. And there was Tyson. Had Poseidon brought us together on purpose? How many times had Tyson saved my life this summer?**

"A LOT!" everyone chorused together.

"Yeah, I get the point," Percy grumbled.

**In the distance, the conch horn sounded, signaling curfew.**

**"You should get to bed," Hermes said. "I've helped you get into quite enough trouble this summer already. I really only came to make this delivery."**

**"A delivery?"**

**"I am the messenger of the gods, Percy." **

"Yes, Hermes, you remind us every day, you know," Apollo mentioned. "You know how many days that is?" he showed all his fingers for emphasis. "Like… a lot, 'kay?"

**He took an electronic signature pad from his mailbag and handed it to me. "Sign there, please."**

**I picked up the stylus before realizing it was entwined with a pair of tiny green snakes. "Ah!" I dropped the pad.**

EVIL!

Percy jumped in surprise and uncapped Riptide, then realised that it was just Hermes' snakes.

"Wow, you have good reflexes…" Apollo blinked.

"Guess I'm still kinda paranoid," Percy said sheepishly.

"Of what, old grandfathers with their wooden canes?"

"Something like that," Nico grimaced.

**Ouch, said George.**

**Really, Percy, Martha scolded. Would you want to be dropped on the floor of a horse stable?**

"I hear it's quite comfortable," Travis added helpfully.

"By who," Bianca wondered. Percy waved his hands in a 'no' motion, but Travis didn't quite understand.

"By Percy!"

Percy smiled sheepishly. "Well, I'm just telling the truth, okay? Stop looking at me like that! You know, I think I'm just going to read now."

**"Oh, uh, sorry." I didn't much like touching snakes, **

I'm offended!

For once, I agree with him.

"Sorry?" Percy shrugged sheepishly.

**but I picked up the pad and the stylus again. Martha and George wriggled under my fingers, forming a kind of pencil grip like the ones my special ed teacher made me use in second grade.**

"That was totally pointless of them," Thalia rolled her eyes. "It wasn't like you were going to do any learning."

"Yeah, you don't even learn now." Nico added playfully.

"Well it's boring," Percy shrugged.

**Did you bring me a rat? George asked.**

**"No …" I said. "Uh, we didn't find any."**

**What about a guinea pig?**

"Well you sure found a lot of those," Travis sniggered.

Percy glared at him, making him shudder.

**George! Martha chided. Don't tease the boy.**

**I signed my name and gave the pad back to Hermes.**

**In exchange, he handed me a sea-blue envelope.**

Zeus shot a glare at Poseidon who returned it back.

"Oh shut it, brother," the sea god said before Zeus could even open his mouth. "Everyone's broken the law more times then I can even count,"

"Barnacle Beard, that's a bad thing," Athena pronounced slowly, like she was talking to a little child. "And that probably just means you can't count very high,"

"You are the most annoying person on the whole planet," Poseidon huffed.

"Ditto," Athena rolled her eyes.

"Haha, Ditto is a pretty awesome Pokémon, you know?" Travis tried to break up the tension between them, but they just ignored him.

**My fingers trembled. Even before I opened it, I could tell it was from my father. **

"Ooh, good detective skills, Fish Face!" Thalia rolled her eyes.

**I could sense his power in the cool blue paper, as if the envelope itself had been folded out of an ocean wave.**

Poseidon nodded his head eagerly. "Yeah, ain't that so cool?"

"Nope," Athena stated.

"Yes!" Poseidon retorted.

"NO!"

"Yes."

"No."

Bianca shouted over the argument over nonsense. "Read—"

"—on," Artemis screamed.

**"Good luck tomorrow," Hermes said. "Fine team of horses you have there, though you'll excuse me if I root for the Hermes cabin."**

Connor and Travis wolf-whistled and cheered so loudly that the demigods around them covered their ears. "YEAHHH!"

**And don't be too discouraged when you read it, dear, Martha told me. He does have your interests at heart.**

Poseidon wondered what he wrote.

**"What do you mean?" I asked.**

**Don't mind her, George said. And next time, remember, snakes work for tips.**

**"Enough, you two," Hermes said. "Good-bye, Percy. For now."**

"Oh, how I hate the 'for now' part." Percy shuddered.

"Yeah, it always means that their going to need your help… again." Annabeth agreed.

"Well… Maybe we're just coming on a social visit?" Poseidon suggested weakly, but he already knew the answer.

"Nope, gods don't do social visits," Thalia set her jaw. "You said so yourself, there are ancient laws to be followed,"

No one spoke another word.

**Small white wings sprouted from his pith helmet. He began to glow, and I knew enough about the gods to avert my eyes before he revealed his true divine form. **

"Yup, wouldn't want little Perry here to go all ka-boom," Dionysus made a gesture with his hands, "on us,"

"Actually, I think he'd go kapoww!" Connor grinned as everyone just stared at him. "Geez you guys can't take a joke," he grumbled after a moment.

"No, we can," Bianca disagreed.

"It just wasn't funny," the two children of Hades said in unison, then looked towards each other and began laughing.

"Now that," Percy pointed to his cousins. "Was funny,"

**With a brilliant white flash he was gone, and I was alone with the horses.**

Apollo began blasting some music from his iPod while turning the volume up. Then, he began singing along. "I'm Mr. Lonely, I've got nobody for my own!"

Everyone just stared at him dumbfounded.

"I'm so lonely, I'm Mr. Lonely—"

"OKAY, WE GET IT. YOU'RE LONELY! Now shut up or I'll kill your iPod." Dionysus threatened.

Apollo glared seriously at him. "You wouldn't dare touch a wire on little Jerry's head."

"I would," Dionysus replied, as several demigods asked, "Jerry?"

Sighing, Apollo turned off his music and continued to glare.

"Jerry?" the demigods asked again.

"His friend," Ares put quotations around 'friend'. "Also known as his iPod."

"Okay, so I don't understand why it's perfectly fine for someone to name their car, but not their iPods. I mean, they're just as important!" Apollo interjected.

"To you only,"

**I stared at the blue envelope in my hands. It was addressed in strong but elegant handwriting that I'd seen once before, on a package Poseidon had sent me last summer.**

**Percy Jackson**

**c/o Camp Half-Blood**

**Farm Road 3.141**

**Long Island, New York 11954**

**An actual letter from my father. Maybe he would tell me I'd done a good job getting the Fleece. He'd explain about Tyson, or apologize for not talking to me sooner. There were so many things that I wanted that letter to say.**

**Poseidon refused to look at anyone. He got a feeling that what he wrote in the letter was none of those things.**

Percy desperately wanted to do something. To tell his father that it wasn't his fault, but for some stupid reason, his mouth just wouldn't open.

**I opened the envelope and unfolded the paper.**

**Two simple words were printed in the middle of the page:**

**Brace Yourself**

Some of the demigods started cracking up, but others seemed to take in the warning.

"You guys realise it probably took more time to write the address then the letter itself?" Travis laughed.

Poseidon looked sheepish while Percy smiled at the thought.

**The next morning, everybody was buzzing about the chariot race, though they kept glancing nervously toward the sky like they expected to see Stymphalian birds gathering. **

"You can't blame them…" Annabeth mumbled.

**None did. It was a beautiful summer day with blue sky and plenty of sunshine. The camp had started to look the way it should look: the meadows were green and lush; the white columns gleamed on the Greek buildings; dryads played happily in the woods.**

**And I was miserable. **

"Exactly what you said when you were first claimed by Poseidon and moved into your cabin." Dionysus said.

A lot of people had their mouths open.

"OH MY GODS, HE ACTUALLY LISTENED!" the demigods all said in unison, making their parents look at them oddly.

"Oh don't be so surprised," Dionysus slid low into his seat as the demigods continued to stare at him, gaping like fishes. "Stop looking at me. I'm not deaf you know,"

Poseidon pulled out his camcorder and started videotaping. "Aww you guys look like cute little fishies!"

"Weirdo," Zeus rolled his eyes.

"Start reading," Hestia gently nudged Percy, breaking him out of his shock.

**I'd been lying awake all night, thinking about Poseidon's warning.**

**Brace yourself.**

**I mean, he goes to the trouble of writing a letter, and he writes two words?**

"Yup, that sounds a lot like dimwitted Barnacle Beard here," Athena grinned.

"Okay fine, you go ahead and accuse my intelligence just because you're the goddess of wisdom." Poseidon huffed. "Though just remember, I got my sea water with me! Atleast it'll never make fun of me…"

"You sound like Hades… So lonely and desperate," Demeter shook her head.

"HEY!" the two brothers exclaimed in unison.

**Martha the snake had told me not to feel disappointed. Maybe Poseidon had a reason for being so vague. Maybe he didn't know exactly what he was warning me about, but he sensed something big was about to happen—something that could completely knock me off my feet unless I was prepared. It was hard, but I tried to turn my thoughts to the race.**

**As Annabeth and I drove onto the track, I couldn't help admiring the work Tyson had done on the Athena chariot. The carriage gleamed with bronze reinforcements. The wheels were realigned with magical suspension so we glided along with hardly a bump. The rigging for the horses was so perfectly balanced that the team turned at the slightest tug of the reins.**

**Tyson had also made us two javelins, each with three buttons on the shaft. The first button primed the javelin to explode on impact, releasing razor wire that would tangle and shred an opponent's wheels. The second button produced a blunt (but still very painful) bronze spearhead designed to knock a driver out of his carriage. The third button brought up a grappling hook that could be used to lock onto an enemy's chariot or push it away.**

**I figured we were in pretty good shape for the race, but Tyson still warned me to be careful. The other chariot teams had plenty of tricks up their togas.**

"I'm hoping that's a figure of speech because togas are so out of fashion right now," Aphrodite commented.

"Besides, togas are really thin and breezy," Apollo blushed.

"Bad memories with togas?" Hephaestus let out a hearty laugh.

"Shut up, that was hundreds of years ago, forget it! Besides, I told you never to mention it again," Apollo slumped into his seat as everyone laughed at his expense.

**"Here," he said, just before the race began.**

**He handed me a wristwatch. There wasn't anything special about it**

"I thought after having a pen that turned into a sword, you would've broadened your expectations,"

"I have," Percy protested. "Kind of. Well, it's hard to accept square tomatoes with wings, okay?"

"I don't even know where flying tomatoes came from…" Hera muttered.

**—just a white-and-silver clock face, a black leather strap—but as soon as I saw it I realized that this is what I'd seen him tinkering on all summer.**

Percy touched his watch and smiled faintly. He wondered what Tyson was doing right now. Probably sitting around and enjoying a nice huge jar of smooth peanut butter. Yum…

**I didn't usually like to wear watches. Who cared what time it was? **

"The titan of time," Apollo said with a 'duh' look.

"And cool people!" Poseidon added, and showed his watch he got from sea world.

Percy whistled and grinned at the 'magnificent' watch.

**But I couldn't say no to Tyson.**

**"Thanks, man." I put it on and found it was surprisingly light and comfortable. I could hardly tell I was wearing it.**

**"Didn't finish in time for the trip," Tyson mumbled. "Sorry, sorry."**

**"Hey, man. No big deal."**

**"If you need protection in race," he advised, "hit the button."**

**"Ah, okay." I didn't see how keeping time was going to help a whole lot, **

Thalia face-palmed.

**but I was touched that Tyson was concerned. I promised him I'd remember the watch. "And, hey, um, Tyson ..."**

**He looked at me.**

**"I wanted to say, well ..." I tried to figure out how to apologize for getting embarrassed about him before the quest, for telling everyone he wasn't my real brother. It wasn't easy to find the words.**

**"I know what you will tell me," Tyson said, looking ashamed. "Poseidon did care for me after all."**

"Well… that wasn't what you were going to say at all," Connor said. "But on the bright side, you don't have to apologize anymore,"

"You still have to apologize!" Hera scolded him. "It's clearly in the 'Book of Manners,'"

"Are you serious?" Travis looked horrified. "There's a 'Book of Manners?'"

"THIS IS HORRIBLE!" Connor cried out dramatically. "I'm never picking up a book ever again!"

"Then I guess you won't be reading this either," Percy waved his book up and down.

"I… I feel so betrayed…" Travis wiped a fake tear. "I mean… how could they do this to us!?"

"Oh shut up," Thalia hit them both on the head with her shoe. "Stop being so melodramatic, the world is clearly not ending,"

"It was really close to though," Nico added, though no one could hear him.

"Ouch, Jeez Thalia, what do you put in your shoe, a brick?" Connor rubbed his head sorely.

"No, she puts her feet in there," Artemis answered for her soon-to-be lieutenant.

"I mean seriously, what else, a whale?" Nico rolled his eyes at the Stoll brothers, who just shrugged in return.

"You can never be too sure."

**"Uh, well—"**

**"He sent you to help me. Just what I asked for."**

"Huh?"

"What?"

"Who would ever ask for Percy?" Thalia asked innocently, making Percy glare at her.

**I blinked. "You asked Poseidon for ... me?"**

**"For a friend," Tyson said, twisting his shirt in his hands. **

"Oh my gods, that's got to be the cutest thing ever," Aphrodite put a hand on her heart, and sniffed happily. All the goddesses also began cooing, making all the men roll their eyes.

Poseidon sighed peacefully. He would never admit it, but right then he felt as emotional as Aphrodite herself.

"I can't wait to see Tyson," Percy never realised it until Tyson was mentioned, but he really missed the big guy.

**"Young Cyclopes grow up alone on the streets, learn to make things out of scraps. Learn to survive."**

**"But that's so cruel!"**

**He shook his head earnestly. "Makes us appreciate blessings, not be greedy and mean and fat like Polyphemus. **

"Or it might make them more bitter and resentful," Nico chimed in.

"I'd rather not look on the pessimistic side," Poseidon grimaced.

**But I got scared. Monsters chased me so much, clawed me sometimes—"**

**"The scars on your back?"**

**A tear welled in his eye. "Sphinx on Seventy-second Street. **

"Sphinxes are stupid," Percy muttered.

"Yeah, literally," Annabeth said. "I mean, that sphinx changed its question, and made it so simple, even Apollo's cows could answer them,"

"Hey!" Apollo cried indignantly while Percy rubbed his neck and said "Well, not that easy, but all of Athena's children could've easily answered them,"

Poseidon just realised something. "You guys met a sphinx?"

Percy and Annabeth both looked at each other for a second, then turned back to the sea god. "Nope," Percy shrugged. "Don't worry 'bout it dad,"

Poseidon had no choice but to let it go, knowing he wasn't going to get an answer out of his son.

**Big bully. I prayed to Daddy for help. Soon the people at Meriwether found me. Met you. Biggest blessing ever. Sorry I said Poseidon was mean. He sent me a brother."**

"That's just so… so… CUTE!" Aphrodite quickly tried wiping her tears away while sniffling.

"Oh, I hate when women cry," Hermes rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, makes me feel so guilty," Apollo agreed.

"Well, that's probably because it's your fault they're crying most of the time." Athena pointed out.

"What can I say, I'm a natural heartbreaker," Apollo winked. "Women just can't get enough of me,"

Artemis began choking — on what, no one's really sure. "SURE, you just keep on thinking that, oh dear annoying brother." She rolled her eyes with heavy sarcasm. Okay, so Apollo did seem to have a lot of girls chasing after him, but she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that.

"Jeez, you're so nice." Apollo stuck out his tongue.

"Why thank you," Artemis ignored his sarcasm.

**I stared at the watch that Tyson had made me.**

**"Percy!" Annabeth called. "Come on!"**

"Thanks for ruining the sweet moment," Aphrodite fanned herself with her hand, like she was trying not to cry.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'll try not to do that again," Annabeth said derisively.

"Thank you dear," she apparently didn't detect the mockery in her voice.

**Chiron was at the starting line, ready to blow the conch.**

**"Tyson ..." I said.**

**"Go," Tyson said. "You will win!"**

**"I—yeah, okay, big guy. We'll win this one for you." I climbed on board the chariot and got into position just as Chiron blew the starting signal.**

**The horses knew what to do. We shot down the track so fast I would've fallen out if my arms hadn't been wrapped in the leather reins. Annabeth held on tight to the rail. The wheels glided beautifully. We took the first turn a full chariot-length ahead of Clarisse, who was busy trying to fight off a javelin attack from the Stoll brothers in the Hermes chariot.**

Hermes and Ares both glared at each other, though Hermes was doing it playfully.

**"We've got 'em!" I yelled, but I spoke too soon.**

**"Incoming!" Annabeth yelled. She threw her first javelin in grappling hook mode, knocking away a lead-weighted net that would have entangled us both. Apollo's chariot had come up on our flank. Before Annabeth could rearm her self, the Apollo warrior threw a javelin into our right wheel. The javelin shattered, but not before snapping some of our spokes. Our chariot lurched and wobbled. I was sure the wheel would collapse altogether, but we somehow kept going."**

**I urged the horses to keep up the speed. We were now neck and neck with Apollo. Hephaestus was coming up close behind. Ares and Hermes were falling behind, riding side by side as Clarisse went sword-on-javelin with Connor Stoll.**

**If we took one more hit to our wheel, I knew we would capsize.**

**"You're mine!" the driver from Apollo yelled. He was a first-year camper. I didn't remember his name, but he sure was confident.**

"And cocky, like all children of Apollo," Artemis added.

**"Yeah, right!" Annabeth yelled back.**

**She picked up her second javelin—a real risk considering we still had one full lap to go—**

**and threw it at the Apollo driver.**

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Apollo exclaimed, and kept yelling, until Artemis finally had to put a sock to it. (Not literally, though she wished)

**Her aim was perfect.**

**The javelin grew a heavy spear point just as it caught the driver in the chest, knocking him against his teammate and sending them both toppling out of their chariot in a backward somersault.**

"Ouch!" Apollo winced, feeling really sorry for whichever son was in that chariot.

**The horses felt the reins go slack and went crazy, riding straight for the crowd. Campers scrambled for cover as the horses leaped the corner of the bleachers and the golden chariot flipped over. **

"Poor audience, there's just always something trying to kill them." Demeter said.

"Atleast this time, there's no feathers of death," Bianca smirked.

"Oh please, don't remind me," Travis winced.

"Hm…" Hades put a finger on his chin in thought. "Do you think—"

"—that it could be a new form of torture?" Nico completed the sentence, making Hades nod. "Possibly…"

Hades furrowed his forehead. "We should—"

"—keep that in mind? Yeah, totally," Nico nodded.

Bianca stared at her family. "Am I the—"

"—only one that thinks this is creepy?" Nico cocked his head to the side.

"I'm scared…" Hermes muttered.

"Okay. When something aberrant happens, just walk away." Zeus advised.

"Or in this case, ignore them," Thalia added.

"Will do," Percy saluted like a soldier and began reading.

'He just made the situation weirder,' everyone thought.

**The horses galloped back toward their stable, dragging the upside-down chariot behind them.**

**I held our own chariot together through the second turn, despite the groaning of the right wheel. We passed the starting line and thundered into our final lap.**

**The axle creaked and moaned. The wobbling wheel was making us lose speed, even though the horses were responding to my every command, running like a well-oiled machine.**

"True that, but Hephaestus' horses are more well-oiled," Travis grinned. "Get it?"

"Yes, we do," Thalia sighed, as people rolled their eyes.

"Haha, that's a good one," Hephaestus grinned. Seems like he's the only one to agree.

**The Hephaestus team was still gaining.**

**Beckendorf grinned as he pressed a button on his command console. Steel cables shot out of the front of his mechanical horses, wrapping around our back rail. Our chariot shuddered as Beckendorf's winch system started working—pulling us backward while Beckendorf pulled himself forward.**

"Haha yeah!" Hephaestus gave a delighted laugh, while Poseidon scowled.

**Annabeth cursed and drew her knife. She hacked at the cables but they were too thick.**

**"Can't cut them.'" she yelled.**

**The Hephaestus chariot was now dangerously close, their horses about to trample us underfoot.**

"Well, that doesn't sound very nice," Hera said.

Annabeth resisted the urge to roll her eyes and say 'No duh!'

**"Switch with me!" I told Annabeth. "Take the reins!"**

**"But—"**

**"Trust me!"**

**She pulled herself to the front and grabbed the reins. I turned, trying hard to keep my footing, and uncapped Riptide.**

**I slashed down and the cables snapped like kite string. **

"Well, that's one advantage against a knife,"

"Knifes are more travel-friendly," Annabeth defended.

"Except Riptide," Percy chimed in.

**We lurched forward, but Beckendorf's driver just swung his chariot to our left and pulled up next to us. Beckendorf drew his sword. He slashed at Annabeth, and I parried the blade away.**

**We were coming up on the last turn. We'd never make it. I needed to disable the Hephaestus chariot and get it out of the way, but I had to protect Annabeth, too. **

"You know she's not a damsel in distress," Nico reminded his boyfriend, making Artemis smile faintly.

"I know," he grinned his lopsided smile, while the demigods snickered at how love struck he looked. Aphrodite tried her VERY hardest not to squeal.

Athena stared at Percy calculatingly, which made him shift uncomfortably in his seat once he noticed.

"You need something, Lady Athena?" he mumbled.

"Nope." She just kept staring at him.

He desperately wanted to shout 'Then stop looking at me in a creepy way, lady!' but thought that wouldn't be such a great idea. Suddenly, the gods laughed like there was no tomorrow, making the demigods look at them curiously.

Then the awkward moment came when Percy realised the gods and goddesses could read his mind. He smiled sheepishly at Athena, and quickly began reading to save himself from anymore embarrassments.

**Just because Beckendorf was a nice guy didn't mean he wouldn't send us both to the infirmary if we let our guard down.**

Hephaestus looked pleased.

**We were neck and neck now, Clarisse coming up from behind, making up for lost time.**

**"See ya, Percy!" Beckendorf yelled. "Here's a little parting gift!"**

**He threw a leather pouch into our chariot. It stuck to the floor immediately and began billowing green smoke.**

**"Greek fire!" Annabeth yelled.**

"Ah crap, no," Poseidon squeaked, and his automatic reaction was to cover his eyes, though it didn't make a difference. "Great, now you're all going to explode."

"Good job stating the obvious," Athena growled, while Ares looked ready to start cheering.

**I cursed. I'd heard stories about what Greek fire could do. I figured we had maybe ten seconds before it exploded.**

"And you'd go 'splat!'" Thalia grinned. Ares started to clap quickly, showing his enthusiasm.

Percy shuddered at the thought of exploding, and having someone scrap his remains of the walls.

"Yuck, Thalia," Nico grimaced. "You make it sound like Percy's a tomato."

"Haha, Percy's a yucky vegetable," Connor snickered. Suddenly, vines began to curl around him, and everyone turned to the only one who would've done it. Demeter's face was red like a… well, like a tomato.

"VEGETABLES ARE NOT DISGUSTING!" she spat, making Connor cower in fear as everyone else tried to conceal their laughter.

"Nope, not at all," Connor shook his head so fiercely that it looked like it was going to fall out.

"Good." Demeter nodded, satisfied.

**"Get rid of it!" Annabeth shouted, **

**but I couldn't. Hephaestus's chariot was still alongside, waiting until the last second to make sure their little present blew up. Beckendorf was keeping me busy with his sword. If I let my guard down long enough to deal with the Greek fire, Annabeth would get sliced and we'd crash anyway. **

"Not to mention I'd be sliced into a million pieces and you know, not alive!" Annabeth exclaimed.

"Oh yeah, that too." Percy added.

**I tried to kick the leather pouch away with my foot, but I couldn't. It was stuck fast.**

**Then I remembered the watch.**

**I didn't know how it could help, but I managed to punch the stopwatch button. Instantly, the watch changed. It expanded, the metal rim spiraling outward like an old-fashioned camera shutter, a leather strap wrapping around my forearm until I was holding a round war shield four feet wide, the inside soft leather, the outside polished bronze engraved with designs I didn't have time to examine.**

**All I knew: Tyson had come through.**

"He always does," Percy said to himself.

I raised the shield, and Beckendorf's sword clanged against it. His blade shattered.

"What? But…" Hephaestus looked confused for a moment. "Ugh, stupid weapons, so unreliable these days."

**"What?" he shouted. "How—"**

"Percy's magical, he can do stuff like that." Nico said a matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, he's like a horse with a horn!" Hermes grinned.

"Wouldn't that be a unicorn?" Demeter asked.

"No, I think it's called a horsihorn."

"Then what's a unicorn?"

"I can't believe you just asked that." Connor rolled his eyes. "Okay well, unicorns are very sparkly, and their horns have special powers."

"They also poop out butterflies and vomit rainbows—atleast that's what I heard…" Percy furrowed his eyebrows.

"Oh my gods. My mind is like… mind-blowned." Nico stated.

Thalia rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe these guys were talking about unicorns like they were real.

"They are real, Thalia." Travis informed her. He knew what she was thinking because she had an I-can't-believe-they-actually-think-unicorns-are-real look on her face.

Apollo nodded his head eagerly. "You never know what's real or not. After all, they called us a myth too," he pointed to the Olympian council.

"You know what, Perseus, read." Athena commanded. "Save all this unicorn talk for later."

"Which means never," Artemis chimed in.

Reluctantly, Percy continued reading.

**He didn't have time to say more because I knocked him in the chest with my new shield and sent him flying out of his chariot, tumbling in the dirt.**

**I was about use Riptide to slash at the driver when Annabeth yelled, "Percy!"**

**The Greek fire was shooting sparks. I shoved the tip of my sword under the leather pouch and flipped it up like a spatula.**

**The firebomb dislodged and flew into the Hephaestus chariot at the driver's feet. He yelped.**

"Darn," Hephaestus muttered, very disappointed, but not in his children.

**In a split second the driver made the right choice: he dove out of the chariot, which careened away and exploded in green flames. The metal horses seemed to short-circuit. They turned and dragged the burning wreckage back toward Clarisse and the Stoll brothers, who had to swerve to avoid it.**

**Annabeth pulled the reins for the last turn. I held on, sure we would capsize, **

Nico snorted in amusement. "It'd be funny if that happened right before you crossed the finish line,"

"If only that happened," Connor and Travis sighed together. "We could've won then,"

"Too bad, huh?" Annabeth smirked happily and high-fived Percy.

**but somehow she brought us through and spurred the horses across the finish line. The crowd roared.**

"YES!" Poseidon cheered loudly while Athena beamed. Automatically, they high-fived each other, but then remembered that they were rivals, and began glaring at each other.

"AW MAN, and just when I thought they stopped being immature," Demeter frowned.

Athena whipped around, with an offended look on her face. "WHAT? I'm not immature! He is!" she pointed to Poseidon, who in turn, pointed back at her and said "No, she is!"

"You know, this has going on for over a thousand years!"

"Fine, let's make up," Poseidon suggested with a grin. Everyone just stared in disbelief.

"Make out?" Aphrodite perked up.

"MAKE UP!" everyone —especially Athena and Poseidon— screamed. Annabeth, Nico, Thalia and Percy shuddered at the thought.

"Fine," Athena turned to Poseidon, smiling a sickly sweet smile and held out her hand. Of course, the feud wasn't going to end that easily, but she just really wanted to continue reading the book.

Poseidon looked at his hand for a moment and tried not to grin. He unclenched his fist and took Athena's hand in his, though what happened next, no one expected except for Poseidon himself. As their hands touched, a squishy sound was heard, making Athena scream and let go quickly.

"POSEIDON!" her face looked red from anger. Her hand was now covered with a sticky light brown substance.

"I just thought you'd like some peanut butter," Poseidon broke down laughing, the demigods in tow.

Athena walked up to him and slapped him in the face. There was now peanut butter all over Poseidon's face. "Me too," she smirked.

Poseidon just sat there dumbfounded. Percy thought this would be a pretty good time to start reading.

**Once the chariot stopped, our friends mobbed us. They started chanting our names, but Annabeth yelled over the noise: "Hold up! Listen! It wasn't just us!"**

**The crowd didn't want to be quiet, but Annabeth made herself heard: "We couldn't have done it without somebody else! We couldn't have won this race or gotten the Fleece or saved Grover or anything! We owe our lives to Tyson, Percy's ..."**

**"Brother!" I said, loud enough for everybody to hear. "Tyson, my baby brother."**

"Finally you appreciate and acknowledge him!" Demeter and Hera exclaimed in unison.

"Well, I guess I was being pretty stupid," Percy muttered, his cheeks tinting pink.

"It's okay, nothing new there!" Thalia teased.

"Hey!"

"Thalia, you know Percy can be smart whenever he wants to be," Nico scolded.

"Thank you," Percy grinned.

"Sadly, that's not most of the time," he continued.

"Nico, you're supposed to be defending your boyfriend!" Percy pouted.

"What fun would be that?" Nico cocked his head to the side innocently.

**Tyson blushed. The crowd cheered. **

**"Funny how someone teases you, and then in the next second, they're cheering for you,"**

**Annabeth planted a kiss on my cheek. **

The room erupted in screams and shouts.

While Nico was glaring at the book, Percy knew it wasn't directed at him, but he still flinched.

Athena groaned dramatically, while Poseidon watched her amusingly, snickering every once in a while.

"Yay, good for you people!" Ares said sardonically. "Now can we puh-lease carry on?"

"I agree," Zeus and Dionysus said at the same time.

**The roaring got a lot louder after that. The entire Athena cabin lifted me and Annabeth **

"Oh hey, looks like your children accepted my son," Poseidon grinned cheekily, while Athena just rolled her eyes.

**and Tyson onto their shoulders and carried us toward the winner's platform, where Chiron was waiting to bestow the laurel wreaths.**

"That's the end of the chapter." Percy grinned.

"Okay, time to go to sleep," Zeus commanded, causing the demigods to naturally complain.

"Guys, go to sleep," Poseidon shooed them out playfully.

"Yes, sir," Percy mock saluted, and they left through the door, laughing like

"Okay… who's going to sleep on the ground this time?" Thalia asked,

Percy, being himself, immediately volunteered.

"Wait, Bianca can sleep with me," Nico mumbled, yawning and rubbing his eyes tiredly. They all stared at him for a moment, because they all forgot that even though Nico ventured through the labyrinth alone, and acts like a teenager, he was still just a 12 year old kid.

"Uh, alright," they all agreed and got ready to go to bed.

"See you in the morning, Bianca," Nico grinned, still unused to those specific words on his tongue. Everyone snuggled into their beds, while Percy turned off the lights.

"Good night, my annoying little mythomagic obsessed brother," she yawned tiredly back.

"Not obsessed."

"Sure…"

"Just go to sleep, you two!" A pillow was thrown and hit the two siblings in the face.

Morning…

The sun shined in through the ultra clean windows, causing a certain son of Hades to complain.

"Don't pull the curtains up!" Nico moaned sleepily.

"Why not?" Thalia narrowed her eyes, her hands still on the curtains.

"Because I don't need to see Apollo shining through the window in the early hours of the morning like a stalker."

"Stop being a vampire," she crossed her arms.

"Stop being whiny!" he retorted.

"Well maybe I'm acting like this because I'm being deprived of my vitamin D!"

"Shut up you two, will ya?" Bianca propped up on her elbows, right beside Nico.

"AH CRAP!" Nico fell out of bed, surprised, making Thalia snicker. "Forgot you were there…"

"Forgot me already, brother?" she blinked the sleepiness out of her eyes.

"I won't ever forget you. Ever." he looked at her suddenly in a serious manner.

"Just kidding, Nic," Bianca ruffled his hair, and headed towards the washroom. "I don't want to see either of you killed by the time I get back!"

"We'll try, though no promises," Thalia called back. "Now get up," she commanded Nico. "It's already 9:15 a.m.,"

"You know, back at camp, I would still be asleep," he mumbled, but got up anyway.

After doing all the stuff people do in the morning, they were finally ready for the day to begin.

Nico got a whole lot grumpier when he remembered that Bianca was leaving in less than an hour. Instead of eating breakfast, they all gathered in a circle on the floor, and decided to just… talk. They talked about all those great moments and memories when they were younger, and all the great times they had together. The Olympians furtively eavesdropped on their conversation, and was glad that they finally got to know what their children were like long ago. And for once, it felt like they were a real family. No wars, no deaths, just a normal day.

Grudgingly, the moment had finally come, when the clock struck 10:00 a.m. exactly. The demigods stopped talking and looked at each other sadly, dreading this very moment.

"Well… bye Bianca," Connor gave a little wave, making Travis hit in on the head. They stood there for a moment, until Percy pulled everyone into a gigantic group hug.

"We'll miss you so much," Percy quickly wiped his cheek, and muttered something like 'There's some dust in my eye'.

The girls had their own little hug, and said their goodbyes.

"Don't you ever forget us," Thalia warned her playfully.

"Yeah, 'cause we know we wont," Annabeth whispered.

"You take care of yourself, okay?" Hades smiled sadly.

"Dad, I'm dead. There isn't much I could protect myself from," Bianca laughed, as Hades blushed red.

"Well, there are some cute dead guys in Elysium, ya know?" he muttered.

Finally, there was only a certain son of Hades left. They stood staring at each other, until Nico finally broke the silence.

"Bianca, you're leaving again," Nico's eyes darkened, along with the room. The demigods involuntarily shuddered.

"I have to," The daughter of Hades looked torn. "My time is over. I have to go back to the future."

"Yeah, okay, fine. J-just go then," he tried to smile, but everyone could see he was upset, almost angry.

"Nico—" Hades began, but was cut off when Nico turned around and ran out the door.

Bianca stood there, looking like she just got punched in the face while everyone looked at each other, thinking that this was not how it was supposed to end. It should've been a happy ending; for everyone.

Suddenly, a black swirling hole opened and expanded in the air, making Athena go up and inspect it in awe. Bianca began wiping her eyes quickly, hoping that no one would mention her crying. They didn't. After an agonizing long minute, when no one heard footsteps coming towards the throne room, they all looked down, knowing it was time for Bianca to go, happy ending or not.


	22. Chapter 22 Bianca Says Goodbye

Previously:

"Bianca, you're leaving again," Nico's eyes darkened, along with the room. The demigods involuntarily shuddered.

"I have to," The daughter of Hades looked torn. "My time is over. I have to go back to the future."

"Yeah, okay, fine. J-just go then," he tried to smile, but everyone could see he was upset, almost angry.

"Nico—" Hades began, but was cut off when Nico turned around and ran out the door.

* * *

Nico sat in a closet —an Olympian closet, mind you— with his head in his hands. He continued to glare at the minuscule stain in the corner, feeling irate at the world. He was such a wimp. Why'd he run away? He didn't think it would hurt this bad, but having to say goodbye again was harder than he thought. Meeting his sister again was a miracle come true, but it had also reopened the wound in his heart—the one that took years to close. Then a single thought occurred to him, making him feel very foolish.

"Why the Hades am I sitting in a freaking closet?"

A few seconds later, he muttered, "Better yet, why am I not saying goodbye?"

This was his last opportunity to properly say goodbye to his sister—something he wasn't able to do before.

'Nothing but a flying hippo is going to stop me from saying bye,' Nico decided. 'Now lets just hope there aren't any on Olympus."

Quicker than humanly possible, he scrambled to his feet and sprinted back to the throne room. He was running so fast that he didn't see the pillow lying on the floor. Sadly, he ended up slipping on it and barrelled right in. Not quite the entrance he was expecting, but good enough.

"Bianca!" he slid on the white marble floor, and ended up slamming into the wall, but that didn't matter right now. "Bianca?" his eyes searched the room, until it landed on a black haired girl.

"Nico?" she turned around, looking relieved.

"Hey," he waved meekly, losing all his confidence.

Everyone rolled their eyes, but Bianca ran up to him and pulled him into a bone crushing hug. They stood there for a moment, just embracing each other's presence one last time.

"Nico, don't you ever hurt me like that again,"

He nodded his head right away. "Sorry,"

Bianca whispered gently, her voice muffled by his shirt. "And move on for me, please. Just let go."

"I know, but sometimes it's not so easy," he closed his eyes, and let out a weary sigh. Bianca let go and stared quiescently, meticulously memorizing everything about her beloved brother. For the first time, she noticed the weariness in her brother's eyes, and the way his shoulders sagged as if he was burdened to carry the sky. He also looked less cheerful and older since she first saw him. Bianca had to admit that this was not the brother she had known two years ago… but people change. Abruptly, Nico opened his very dark brown eyes, held out his hand for a shake, and smiled a half-hearted smile for the sake of everyone and everything. "Maybe we'll meet again some day." Nico said softly to make sure his voice doesn't crack because it never helps to look weak in front of anyone.

Hades stared at his son's hand, feeling that life really was unfair. He and Nico both knew that he could never see his sister again; it was against ancient laws. That single hand his son held out had a plethora of determination, but miniscule hope.

"Maybe." Bianca let out a laugh of an angel and shook his hand, putting all her emotions into it. They both stood there for a moment, looking into each other eyes. Silently, a message was passed between them; I love you. "Bye Nico."

He really wanted to tell her not to go, to never leave him alone again, even if that meant he had to listen to her incessant chattering for all of eternity. Grudgingly, he knew Bianca was right and that it was finally time to let go, so all he said was, "See ya Bianca, my incredibly awesome sister,"

"My mythomagic obsessed brother…" Bianca smiled warmly back, then stepped into the black swirling portal. (Speaking of which, how did he not even notice that before?) As the hole disappeared into thin air, so did his sister and the hope that she could ever be alive again.

There was a moment of silence, sans the sad sniffles of Aphrodite and a few other goddesses. Some shot him sympathetic smiles, but he didn't want them, or need them for that matter.

"Hey, you okay?" Percy walked up and gently laid a hand on his shoulder, after placing a kiss on his lips.

"Yeah," he nodded weakly, continuing to stare blankly at the wall where the stupid portal used to be.

"You can uh…" Percy used his other hand to pull on his shirt collar, clearly uncomfortable. "Cry if you need to, ya know?"

Nico turned around with eyebrows raised. "Percy, in case you haven't noticed, I'm a guy. And guys don't cry," by the end, he was half smiling.

Thalia, who overheard that comment, went up to Nico and punched him hard in the gut, making him double over in pain. "Looks like you're crying now, Di Angelo!"

Contrary to his tears of pain, he half-smiled. Perhaps it was because as he stared at an evil grinning Thalia, and a laughing Percy, he suddenly realised that although his real sister has moved on again, he gained a family who accepted him for who he was. He wasn't alone anymore as he used to be.


	23. Chapter 23

After three minutes of everyone standing in the throne room in silence, Apollo finally talked. "Okay, why don't we continue reading?"

"Great idea, because no one would've thought of that brilliant idea," Dionysus said sarcastically.

Ares picked up the book and gently tossed it to Aphrodite, who caught the book in disgust. "I wonder how many germs are on this book and how many pimples it'll sprout if it touches my skin," she murmured.

"Gosh, stop being so germaphobic and read already,"

"I'm not germaphobic," she muttered but began reading.

**"The Fleece works its magic too well," **

"I'm so feeling the love here cousin," Thalia rolled her eyes.

**That afternoon was one of the happiest I'd ever spent at camp, which maybe goes to show, you never know when your world is about to be rocked to pieces.**

"What's that supposed to mean?" Zeus felt the need to back up his daughter.

"Well… 'rocked to pieces' could be a good thing… maybe," Percy scratched his head nervously.

"Only in your mind Perce, only in your mind." Nico chuckled.

"Well, I guess that just means my mind is special," he grinned in return.

"Very special indeed." Nico agreed.

**Grover announced that he'd be able to spend the rest of the summer with us before resuming his quest for Pan. **

**His bosses at the Council of Cloven Elders were so impressed that he hadn't gotten himself killed and had cleared the way for future searchers, that they granted him a two-month furlough and a new set of reed pipes. The only bad news: Grover insisted on playing those pipes all afternoon long, and his musical skills hadn't improved much. **

**He played "YMCA," and the strawberry plants started going crazy, wrapping around our feet like they were trying to strangle us. **

"Is he trying to secretly murder my plants?" Demeter asked suspiciously.

"Nah," Nico shrugged. "He's trying to kill everyone else."

Demeter sighed in relief. "Alrighty then."

"Nice to know she cares so much about us." Annabeth grumbled.

"Hey, that's a good thing," Hades objected. "'Cause if she cared for you, she'd force you to eat so much cereal you'd explode Lucky Charms." he winced.

"That would… be so awesome!"

**I guess I couldn't blame them.**

**Grover told me he could dissolve the empathy link between us, now that we were face to face, but I told him I'd just as soon keep it if that was okay with him. He put down his reed pipes and stared at me. "But, if I get in trouble again, you'll be in danger, Percy! You could die!"**

"Nice to know," Poseidon grumbled. "You better not die."

"I'll try my best, father," Percy said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Okay, if I catch you dying, you're going to regret it," he threatened as everyone rolled their eyes.

Percy didn't even bother to mention that Poseidon couldn't do anything to him because he'd already be dead by then.

**"If you get in trouble again, I want to know about it. And I'll come help you again, G-man. I wouldn't have it any other way."**

**In the end he agreed not to break the link. **

Poseidon didn't look to happy but accepted it.

**He went back to playing "YMCA" for the strawberry plants. I didn't need an empathy link with the plants to know how they felt about it.**

**Later on during archery class, Chiron pulled me aside and told me he'd fixed my problems with Meriwether Prep. The school no longer blamed me for destroying their gymnasium. The police were no longer looking for me.**

"Whaaa? Oh jeez, I wish I can go into the mortal world, blow up a city and get away scotch free," Connor groaned.

"Well, maybe we'll try it one day," Hermes's eyes sparkled in amusement.

"YEAHH!" the brothers yelled while everyone else was screaming "NOOOOOO!"

**"How did you manage that?" I asked.**

**Chiron's eyes twinkled. "I merely suggested that the mortals had seen something different on that day—a furnace explosion that was not your fault."**

**"You just said that and they bought it?"**

"Pfft, are you crazy? Chiron is magical. He does whatever magical thing he does and poof—"

"Okay Nico, stop with your magical fairy talk," Thalia interrupted.

"First of all, I never mentioned anything about fairies," Nico pretended to gag at the thought. "Secondly, one day you'll regret refusing my creativity! In twenty years, I'll become the president."

"Oh gods, there goes our country…"

**"I manipulated the Mist. Some day, when you're ready, I'll show how it's done."**

Percy glared at Thalia while she smiled smugly back. They both were remembering the time where Thalia manipulated the mist while Percy just stood there in awe.

**"You mean I can go back to Meriwether next year?"**

**Chiron raised his eyebrows. "Oh, no, they've still expelled you. **

"Why? What'd you do?"

"Nothing worth being expelled for," Percy grumbled. "You know what; nothing I ever do is worth being expelled!"

"Yeah, blowing up a school is not worth being expelled for," Nico said sarcastically.

"No, it isn't." Percy crossed his arms and frowned. "I mean, you should like only get expelled if you blow up the world or something,"

"But then we'd all be dead already..." Annabeth pointed out.

"I meant it hypothetically," he replied. "Like something of that magnitude."

"Okay there Perce, we'll just waiting 'till someone blows up the world and then give them a detention slip," Thalia rolled her eyes.

**Your headmaster, Mr. Bonsai, **

"Oh hey, he's named after a tree!" Demeter perked up.

"Only you would realise that…" Hades rolled his eyes.

**said you had—how did he put it?—un-groovy karma that disrupted the school's educational aura. **

"Wow, if he thinks Percy is un-groovy, I don't want to know what he'll say if he ever meets Nico and Hades." Apollo shuddered.

"You know what? I'm pretty tired of people thinking that I'm emo and depressing just because I'm the son of Hades." Nico growled while crossing his arms.

Few gods rolled their eyes like they thought Nico was just being moody while other Olympians took in what he said. Hades stared at the ground thinking that just maybe it was his fault everyone thought of Nico in that way.

"Nico, we we're just kidding around," Percy sincerely put a hand on Nico's shoulder, though he thought he heard some god muttering "No we weren't."

"Well sometimes it isn't so funny," Nico shrugged. "Well whatever, let's just continue on, yeah?"

"Cheer up, okay" Percy said, after giving him a kiss.

"I'll try" Nico smiled up at him.

Thalia stared at Nico. It was times like these when she thought he was bipolar. Aphrodite continued to read though some people decided that they should cut down on the 'death' jokes because sometimes it could be cruel.

**But you're not in any legal trouble, which was a relief to your mother. Oh, and speaking of your mother ..."**

**He unclipped his cell phone from his quiver and handed it to me. "It's high time you called her."**

**The worst part was the beginning—the "Percy-Jackson-what-were-you-thinking-do-you-have-any-idea-how-worried-I-was-sneaking-off-to-camp-without-permission-going-on-dangerous-quests-and-scaring-me-half-to-death" part.**

"Oh yeah," Poseidon blinked, realising that Sally didn't know where Percy was. "You should've atleast told your mother," he reprimanded his son.

Percy rolled his eyes. "Dad, stop pretending to frown, it just doesn't suit you."

"Fine, but if anyone asks, I'm a very good father," Poseidon put up two thumbs and smiled.

Percy shook his head and laughed. To him, Poseidon was an awesome father, so there was no need to lie.

**But finally she paused to catch her breath. "Oh, I'm just glad you're safe!"**

**That's the great thing about my mom. She's no good at staying angry. She tries, but it just isn't in her nature.**

"Aw," Hera sighed. "Such a good mother,"

"Yeah, why I couldn't have her instead," Thalia told Percy.

"That's because she's my mother," Percy said protectively.

"Yeah, lucky pants," Travis chuckled.

**"I'm sorry, Mom," I told her. "I won't scare you again."**

**"Don't promise me that, Percy. You know very well it will only get worse." She tried to sound casual about it, but I could tell she was pretty shaken up.**

**I wanted to say something to make her feel better, but I knew she was right. Being a half-blood, I would always be doing things that scared her. And as I got older, the dangers would just get greater.**

Poseidon grimaced while other Olympians felt guilty.

"How bad does it get?" he just had to ask.

"Ugh…" Percy stammered. "I don't really think you want to know…"

"I'm just going to pretend that it doesn't get that bad for the sake of my sanity," Poseidon squeaked.

**"I could come home for a while," I offered.**

**"No, no. Stay at camp. Train. Do what you need to do. But you will come home for the next school year?"**

**"Yeah, of course. Uh, if there's any school that will take me."**

**"Oh, we'll find something, dear," my mother sighed. "Some place where they don't know us yet."**

The demigods all burst out laughing.

"Percy, you sound like juvenile delinquent who's on the run," Hermes grinned.

"Been there, done that, never want to do it again," Percy grumbled.

**As for Tyson, the campers treated him like a hero. **

"Duh, he is a hero."

**I would've been happy to have him as my cabin mate forever, but that evening, as we were sitting on a sand dune overlooking the Long Island Sound, he made an announcement that completely took me by surprise.**

**"Dream came from Daddy last night," he said. "He wants me to visit."**

**I wondered if he was kidding, but Tyson really didn't know how to kid.**

"So true," Nico said. "This one time, I told him to 'break a leg' as good luck, but I just ended up making him cry,"

"Oh Nico, just seeing your face makes everyone want to cry," Thalia patted him on the back.

"Aw thanks Thals, you're as smelly as Percy's locker." Nico grinned as Percy indignantly exclaimed "Hey! It's not that smelly!"

"Uh…" Artemis furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"That's how they show that they love each other," Annabeth explained, then added "As brother and sister," once she saw Artemis' expression, although its different in Percy's and Nico's case.

"OH THAT'S WHAT WE DO TOO!" Apollo exclaimed. "Hermes, you're as ugly as Medusa!"

"Apollo, you're as cold as Hades." Hermes laughed.

Hades twitched. "That really hurt my feelings." he said monotonously.

**"Poseidon sent you a dream message?"**

**Tyson nodded. "Wants me to go underwater for the rest of the summer. Learn to work at Cyclopes' forges. He called it an inter—an intern—"**

"An internal prison!"

"Yes Connor," Percy rubbed his forehead. "Tyson really enjoys going to prisons."

**"An internship?"**

**"Yes." I let that sink in. I'll admit, I felt a little jealous. **

"Ooh the little green monster," Dionysus mumbled as Percy turned red from embarrassment.

"Well, I'm not a robot, I do have emotions." he defended.

"You got something against my robots?" Hephaestus challenged.

"Ugh… No no, not at all!" Percy stumbled as everyone laughed heartedly.

**Poseidon had never invited me underwater. But then I thought, Tyson was going? Just like that?**

**"When would you leave?" I asked.**

**"Now."**

**"Now. Like ... now now?"**

**"Now."**

"Wow, that's a lot of 'now's…" Zeus blinked.

"That's six now." Demeter noted.

"Seven 'now's!'" Apollo grinned.

"Okay guys shut up." Athena told them. "And it's currently eight."

"Phew, glad you didn't say—"

"—the specific word," Thalia put her hand on her Connor's mouth. "We don't need this to keep continuing."

**I stared out at the waves in the Long Island Sound. The water was glistening red in the sunset.**

"How beautiful and romantic… Now if only Tyson was replaced with Nico…" Aphrodite trailed off and began mumbling to herself as Percy and Nico blushed red.

"Aphrodite, if I hear one more thing about that topic, you will regret it," Athena heaved a big sigh.

"Bring. It. On." Aphrodite stuck out her tongue. "Gotta stand up for what you believe in."

"Wouldn't that be make-up for you?" Apollo interjected.

Athena stepped forward menacingly but Artemis held her back.

"GIRL BRAWL-OUT!" Hermes and Ares both shouted in unison.

"Shut up shut up shut up!" Zeus stamped his foot like a little kid. "Sit down."

"Someone has a temper tantrum," Hera rolled her eyes.

"Who did you think would win?" Apollo asked Poseidon.

"I'm going to be stereotypical and pick Athena." Poseidon said.

"Oh, I would go with Aphrodite. Her stilettos hurt!"

"I'm happy for you, big guy," I managed. "Seriously."

**"Hard to leave my new brother," he said with a tremble in his voice. "But I want to make things. Weapons for the camp. You will need them."**

**Unfortunately, I knew he was right. The Fleece hadn't solved all the camp's problems. Luke was still out there, gathering an army aboard the Princess Andromeda. Kronos was still re-forming in his golden coffin. Eventually, we would have to fight them.**

The demigods all shuddered while the Olympians grimaced just thinking about it.

**"You'll make the best weapons ever," I told Tyson. I held up my watch proudly. "I bet they'll tell good time, too."**

"LAME!" Travis smiled jokingly.

"You're lame," Percy crossed his arms.

"That retort was lame too,"

"Okay, you're both lame. There, now we're all happy, alright?" Aphrodite didn't even wait for a satisfied answer and just read on.

**Tyson sniffled. "Brothers help each other."**

"Not really." Hades said deadpanned, staring at his own brothers.

"Yes we do help you!" Zeus claimed.

"Actually, we don't…" Poseidon chimed in.

Zeus rolled his eyes. "Well, we try to anyway,"

Poseidon shook his head. "I don't think so."

Hades raised his eyebrow and chuckled.

"ANYWAY, atleast we didn't kill your kid." Zeus pointed out, waiting for his annoying brother to interrupt. Fortunately, he didn't.

Hades shrugged. "Good enough."

**"You're my brother," I said. "No doubt about it."**

"Duhh, there's no doubt about it because you both have the same father," Connor smirked.

"Ha-ha, not funny at all."

"Then why'd you laugh?"

"Ugh, shut up."

**He patted me on the back so hard he almost knocked me down the sand dune. Then he wiped a tear from his cheek and stood to go. "Use the shield well."**

**"I will, big guy."**

**"Save your life some day."**

"And he was so right." Nico whispered quietly.

Percy heard it and smirked. "Yeah, I miss him so much right now."

**The way he said it, so matter-of-fact, I wondered if that Cyclops eye of his could see into the future.**

**He headed down to the beach and whistled. Rainbow, the hippocampus, burst out of the waves. I watched the two of them ride off together into the **

"-sunset!" Aphrodite added the last word while grinning. Everyone laughed.

"I'm pretty sure I wasn't thinking that…" Percy had a weird look on his face, probably thinking if he was sane.

"Aphrodite…" Hestia had an amused look on her face.

"Okay, so that wasn't exactly what the book said…" Aphrodite smiled. "But it just seemed better that they were riding into the sunset than riding into the 'realm of Poseidon'. No offense."

"Still offended." the sea god pouted. "There is nothing wrong with my realm!"

"Sure, you keep thinking that." Demeter patted Poseidon on the head like he was a five-year old. This made everyone laugh even harder at the sight.

**realm of Poseidon.**

**Once they were gone, I looked down at my new wristwatch. I pressed the button and the shield spiraled out to full size. Hammered into the bronze were pictures in Ancient Greek style, scenes from our adventures this summer. There was Annabeth slaying a Laistrygonian dodgeball player, me fighting the bronze bulls on Half-Blood Hill, Tyson riding Rainbow toward the Princess Andromeda, **

**the CSS Birmingham blasting its cannons at Charybdis. **

**I ran my hand across a picture of Tyson, battling the Hydra as he held aloft a box of Monster Donuts.**

**I couldn't help feeling sad. **

"Me too sweetie, me too." Aphrodite looked like she was going to blubber like a little baby any time soon.

Percy had to admit, seeing Aphrodite upset made him more emotional, but he shook it off. He reminded himself that when he gets back to his own time, he'll see Tyson again and hang out with Annabeth and Grover like old times.

**I knew Tyson would have an awesome time under the ocean. But I'd miss everything about him—his fascination with horses, the way he could fix chariots or crumple metal with his bare hands, or tie bad guys into knots. I'd even miss him snoring like an earthquake in the next bunk all night.**

**"Hey, Percy."**

**I turned.**

**Annabeth and Grover were standing at the top of the sand dune. I guess maybe I had some sand in my eyes, because I was blinking a lot.**

"Shut up, okay? It was a really really emotional moment," Percy looked like he was hyperventilating.

"We didn't say anything," Travis surrendered.

**"I was on top of a sand dune; there was so much sand in my eye!" The son of the sea god stated. "Geez, I wasn't crying…"**

"Calm your horsies man,"

"My horsies are calm. They are calm; very serene." Percy took a deep breath.

**"Tyson..." I told them. "He had to..."**

**"We know," Annabeth said softly. "Chiron told us."**

**"Cyclopes forges." Grover shuddered. "I hear the cafeteria food there is terrible! Like, no enchiladas at all."**

**Annabeth held out her hand. "Come on, Seaweed Brain. Time for dinner."**

**We walked back toward the dining pavilion together, just the three of us, like old times.**

**A storm raged that night, but it parted around Camp Half-Blood as storms usually did. Lightning flashed against the horizon, waves pounded the shore, but not a drop fell in our valley. We were protected again, thanks to the Fleece, sealed inside our magical borders.**

**Still, my dreams were restless. I heard Kronos taunting me from the depths of Tartarus: Polyphemus sits blindly in his cave, young hero, believing he has won a great victory. Are you any less deluded? The titan's cold laughter filled the darkness.**

"This war isn't going to be over any time soon is it," Aphrodite sighed grimly.

"Obviously not, why else would we have 5 books instead of 2?" Athena rolled her eyes.

"Well, you know, there could be a really slim chance that the next three books are filled with blank pages," Apollo perked up, not really wanting to spend his days reading books.

"That's a waste of trees," Demeter pouted. "PRECIOUS TREES!"

"For some odd reason, I knew each and every one of you guys would respond like that," Poseidon sighed.

"Well, I expected you to be arguing with Zeus like you always do," Athena shot back.

"Speaking of which… ZEUS, DID YOU HIRE THOSE PESKY MORTALS TO DUMP GUMMY BEARS INTO THE SEA?" Poseidon glared.

"Do you realise how crazy you sound right now?" Zeus rolled his eyes. "Jeez, when blue whales eat eagles, I don't blame you!"

"Well, that's probably because BLUE WHALES DON'T EAT EAGLES! How is that even possible?"

"Gods, that's not even the point!"

"You know what, you two are both totally pointless," Athena interrupted, then added "No offense, father."

"Suck up," Poseidon stuck his tongue out at the same time Zeus muttered "I'm still offended."

"Well, I can see where you got your immaturity from," Nico told Percy, who just smiled in return.

**Then my dream changed. I was following Tyson to the bottom of the sea, into the court of Poseidon. It was a radiant hall filled with blue light, the floor cobbled with pearls. And there, on a throne of coral, sat my father, dressed like a simple fisherman in khaki shorts and a sun-bleached T-shirt. I looked up into his tan weathered face, his deep green eyes, and he spoke two words: **

"Brace yourself." Travis said in an old ominous voice, reminding some people of Dumbledore from Harry Potter.

"Yes, we get it brother," Hestia told Poseidon amusingly.

"Well, I probably just wanted to make sure he got a message loud and clear," Poseidon defended.

"Oh, I'm sure he did… atleast three times." Artemis rolled her eyes.

**Brace yourself.**

**I woke with a start.**

**There was a banging on the door. Grover flew inside without waiting for permission. "Percy!" he stammered. "Annabeth ... on the hill ... she ..."**

Athena sat up straighter and leaned forward with newfound alertness.

**The look in his eyes told me something was terribly wrong. Annabeth had been on guard duty that night, protecting the Fleece. If something had happened—**

**I ripped off the covers, my blood like ice water in my veins. I threw on some clothes while Grover tried to make a complete sentence, but he was too stunned, too out of breath. "She's lying there ... just lying there …"**

"Lying there… not Annabeth, right?" Athena wanted to make sure again.

"Yes, mother," Annabeth shook her head while smiling.

"Yes your lying there or… yes you're not lying there?" Hephaestus looked up confusedly.

Everyone ignored him.

**I ran outside and raced across the central yard, Grover right behind me. Dawn was just breaking, but the whole camp seemed to be stirring. Word was spreading. Something huge had happened. A few campers were already making their way toward the hill, satyrs and nymphs and heroes in a weird mix of armor and pajamas.**

**I heard the clop of horse hooves, and Chiron galloped up behind us, looking grim.**

**"Is it true?" he asked Grover.**

**Grover could only nod, his expression dazed.**

**I tried to ask what was going on, **

"Oh my gods, why doesn't someone just tell him what's going on!" Hermes groaned.

"Because apparently at Camp Half-Blood, everyone loves to be all mysterious and furtive on you," Percy rolled his eyes. "Straightforward answers are forbidden at the camp for demigods!"

"Melodramatic much?"

**but Chiron grabbed me by the arm and effortlessly lifted me onto his back. Together we thundered up Half-Blood Hill, where a small crowd had started to gather.**

**I expected to see the Fleece missing from the pine tree, but it was still there, glittering in the first light of dawn. The storm had broken and the sky was blood red.**

**"Curse the titan lord," Chiron said.**

Connor suddenly turned red and burst out laughing while everyone looked at him curiously.

"Why are you laughing?"

After getting his breath back, Connor finally answered. "I dunno, don't you guys just have that moment where you think something is really funny?"

"Yeah," some people chorused. "But that's because it's actually funny,"

"Jeez, live for a moment, will ya?" he rolled his eyes in return.

"Oh we are," Artemis chimed in.

"Yeah, can't you see us breathing?" Poseidon emphasized his breathing.

"Not sure about Hades though, he might be dead." Demeter snickered.

"Thanks," Hades sneered dryly while Hermes poked him quickly.

**"He's tricked us again, given himself another chance to control the prophecy."**

**"What do you mean?" I asked.**

**"The Fleece," he said. "The Fleece did its work too well."**

"Great, even Chiron doesn't want me alive," Thalia grumbled.

"It might not be that," Hestia soothed her.

"But then again, it might," Nico planted a seed of doubt into her consciousness.

"Shut up emo dude," Thalia growled.

"Just kidding," Nico surrendered. "Please don't kill me!"

Hades and Zeus both became more alert at this sentence while Thalia just grinned in satisfaction.

"Kill? There will be no killing here!" Hades demanded. "Actually, kill whoever you want except my son."

"Well that just warmed my heart. Nice to know you care so much about us Uncle Hades." Percy said.

Hades shuddered at being called 'Uncle Hades' and glared immensely at Percy, though he went unflinchingly since he was so accustomed to those death glares.

"Well…" Aphrodite said after five minutes of silence and glaring. "I'm just going to read on now…"

**We galloped forward, everyone moving out of our way. There at the base of the tree, a girl was lying unconscious. Another girl in Greek armor was kneeling next to her.**

**Blood roared in my ears. I couldn't think straight. Annabeth had been attacked? **

**But why was the Fleece still there?**

**The tree itself looked perfectly fine, whole and healthy, suffused with the essence of the Golden Fleece.**

**"It healed the tree," Chiron said, his voice ragged. "And poison was not the only thing it purged."**

**Then I realized Annabeth wasn't the one lying on the ground. She was the one in armor, kneeling next to the unconscious girl. When Annabeth saw us, she ran to Chiron. "It... she ... just suddenly there …"**

**Her eyes were streaming with tears, but I still didn't understand. I was too freaked out to make sense of it all. I leaped off Chiron's back and ran toward the unconscious girl. Chiron said: "Percy, wait!"**

**I knelt by her side. She had short black hair and freckles across her nose. She was built like a long-distance runner, lithe and strong, and she wore clothes that were somewhere between punk and Goth—a black T-shirt, black tattered jeans, and a leather jacket with buttons from a bunch of bands I'd never heard of.**

**She wasn't a camper. I didn't recognize her from any of the cabins. And yet I had the strangest feeling I'd seen her before...**

"In your dreams," Thalia grinned.

"Literally," Poseidon added.

"Ha-Ha, that wasn't funny." Athena deadpanned.

"Oh c'mon, that was puny!" Poseidon laughed at himself.

"I never knew gods could be so not funny," Travis whispered quietly.

"Poseidon, now is not the time to be hysterical," Zeus rubbed his temples.

"Party pooper," Poseidon was tempted to stick out his tongue defiantly.

**"It's true," Grover said, panting from his run up the hill. "I can't believe ..."**

**Nobody else came close to the girl.**

**I put my hand on her forehead. Her skin was cold, but my fingertips tingled as if they were burning.**

**"She needs nectar and ambrosia," I said. She was clearly a half-blood, **

"No really? I thought she was a leprechaun!"

"Okay, honestly, you think everyone is a leprechaun!"

"Fine, that's kind of true, but I was just being sarcastic this time!"

"Yeah well, you're—"

"Pika—CHUUUUUUU!" Travis had a look of constipation on his face.

…There was total silence.

"What the Hades was that?"

"You look like your trying to shit out a giraffe."

"I just wanted them to stop arguing already," Travis shrugged. "And it worked, didn't it?"

"Yeah, you should do that more often."

"NO NO DON'T!" Nico shook his head vigorously. "That almost blinded me."

**whether she was a camper or not. I could sense that just from one touch. I didn't understand why everyone was acting so scared.**

"Because they're wimps, that's why." Ares grumbled.

"You're basically calling your children wimps too then," Athena stated.

"I hate you and your brain," he told her angrily.

"And I love me and my brain," she retorted.

**I took her by the shoulders and lifted her into sitting position, resting her head on my shoulder.**

**"Come on!" I yelled to the others. "What's wrong with you people? **

"Oh so many things…" Hera shook her head.

"Oh dear step-mother, that isn't so nice." Thalia feigned innocence.

**Let's get her to the Big House."**

**No one moved, not even Chiron. They were all too stunned.**

**Then the girl took a shaky breath. She coughed and opened her eyes.**

**Her irises were startlingly blue—electric blue.**

Thalia made some sparks come from her hands. "Yup, that's me," her eyes sparkled in amusement.

Connor instinctively reached out to try and touch the sparks that were flying from Thalia's hands. "OUCH! Damn it," he cursed to himself after he got shocked.

Everyone just stared at him with a like they were thinking 'what's wrong with this kid?'

"It just looked so mesmerizing," Connor defended himself.

**The girl stared at me in bewilderment, shivering and wild-eyed. "Who—"**

**"I'm Percy," I said. "You're safe now."**

**"Strangest dream …"**

**"It's okay."**

**"Dying."**

**"No," I assured her. "You're okay. What's your name?"**

**That's when I knew. Even before she said it.**

"See, you know my name even before I told you. I'm just cool like that," Thalia whispered jokingly.

"Yeah suuuuureeee, Pinecone Face," Nico said and shook his head.

Thalia shocked Nico, making his hair stand straight up. "Oh yeah, guess I should've warned you beforehand…"

"Ya think?" the son of Hades snapped while trying to make his hair stand down.

"Oh Nicky, just chillax." Thalia ruffled his hair.

Nico groaned because he just fixed it, only for Thalia to mess it up again.

**The girl's blue eyes stared into mine, and I understood what the Golden Fleece quest had been about. The poisoning of the tree. Everything. Kronos had done it to bring another chess piece into play—another chance to control the prophecy.**

**Even Chiron, Annabeth, and Grover, who should've been celebrating this moment, were too shocked, thinking about what it might mean for the future. **

"Jeez, you peeps need to chill," Apollo commented.

"Yo, I'm so chill I make the world freeze,"

"Thanks a lot, you just caused an ice age," Hera muttered moodily.

"Well yay, now we can all have an ice party with those mammoths!" Connor said while Thalia gave him a thumbs up for pissing off the goddess of marriage.

Hera huffed angrily.

**And I was holding someone who was destined to be my best friend, or possibly my worst enemy.**

Percy and Thalia looked at each other for a moment. "Are we…?"

"Well, I guess we did kind of clash when we first met…" Thalia said in thought.

"Then, I guess we're worst enemies who just so happens to be best friends, okay?"

"Please, who would want to be friends with a kelp head like you?"

Percy just kept staring at her.

"Okay fine, best friends." Thalia couldn't help but smiling.

"Oh goody," Percy smirked.

**"I am Thalia," the girl said. "Daughter of Zeus."**

"And that, my dear friends, was the story of Thalia and how she ruined my life." Percy said professionally. "I hope you enjoyed it."

Everyone laughed while Thalia punched Percy playfully, but winced, remembering that Percy was practically invincible.

"Just joking Thals," Percy smiled and ruffled her hair, making her scowl.


	24. Chapter 24

"I need all the camcorders," Hera announced, then went around collecting them like a maniac paranoid squirrel would collect its acorns and hibernate for the winter.

"Guys, it's time we had the talk." Zeus stated.

All the demigods' eye widened. "THE TALK?"

Dionysus sighed. "Yes, didn't you hear him? The talk."

"Do you mean the talk every mortal cringes from?" Annabeth gulped.

All of the Olympians' eyes widened in realization. "NONONONONONONONO!"

Artemis clamped her hands on her ears and muttered "My poor innocence will be gone very soon, I swear."

Meanwhile, Hestia tried to calm everyone down while staring amusingly at others.

"What he means is we're going to discuss about what's going to happen next." Apollo burst out laughing at their relieved faces.

"Who knew he could be decently mature?" Demeter muttered, earning some chuckles.

"Okay, so, we know that our father is rising and will attempt to take over Olympus. Also, Thalia has become alive again, meaning there will be another opportunity for manipulation." with every word, Zeus got more nervous. "Not so bad… eh, I think."

"Very reassuring," Hades said dryly, while the demigods just sat back and watched everyone, feeling that it wasn't their part to interfere.

"Wait, why are we even bothering to talk about this?" Ares rolled his eyes and pointed to the demigods. "We obviously know that we win the war."

"Who knows, maybe we somehow altered the future by mistake. It's best to be safe than sorry." Hephaestus said knowledgeably.

"Speaking of which, we cannot change anything about the future," Athena stated.

Everyone burst out arguing or screaming.

"WHAT? YOU CAN'T DO THIS!"

"What about everyone that has died? Are we just going to leave them?"

"Butterscotch kid!" ("What the hell, Connor?")

"This is FINAL!" Athena shouted, while Zeus acquiesced. "You all knew deep down that this was going to be the decision."

"You cannot interfere with your children's lives," she looked at Zeus, Poseidon and Hermes longer.

Poseidon crossed his arms and gritted his teeth, but didn't say anything.

With a softer voice, Athena said "Everything works out in the end, changing anything could disrupt the outcome."

They all knew that it was true, but as parents, it was really tough to just let their children go. Even then, some couldn't help but shoot Athena some mean glares.

"Just shut up and stop acting like you know everything in the world because you don't."

Athena just glared right back and walked out of the room.

Everyone sat there in silence while staring at the door.

"Jeez, you know at times, you guys can be so inconsiderate and cruel," Poseidon frowned.

"You make it seem like you never bother her," Hera sneered back.

"Can we stop fighting?" Zeus rubbed his temples. "Poseidon, go bring Athena back, the meeting is not finished yet."

"Why me? You of all people know I despise her." the sea god crossed his arms childishly.

"Just go. I don't have time for this stupid feud." the king of the gods sighed.

"It's not stupid." Poseidon muttered but reluctantly left the room to go find Athena.

First, he checked the most obvious places like the library and her temple but to no avail. After searching for 10 minutes straight, he sighed in frustration and stopped to think. Where would an intelligent and stubborn goddess go when angered? Well, he wasn't Athena, so how would he even know? He thought about asking Annabeth, but it would take too long to go back to the throne room. He was already half way across Olympus.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. He remembered Percy saying how whenever Annabeth got mad, she would go to the beach, the same with Nico. Maybe… Just maybe she would be in a place people would never think to check.

He immediately ran towards the building that had an intoxicating scent of roses and was covered with pink stuff. (I think you can guess whose place that is.)

After five minutes of searching around the house while covering his nose, Poseidon found Athena sitting on a bench outside watching the flowers while swinging her feet back and forth.

"Athena," Poseidon blew at his hair tiredly. He was immensely exhausted because after all, he was playing hide and seek with the goddess of wisdom.

"What?" she said coldly. "Have you come to taunt me even more?"

Poseidon blinked in surprise and he was filled with sudden guilt. He realised that Athena was actually affected by the words of others. "Uh… Owl Head, don't listen to what they say. They don't actually mean it." *

"They make it seem like I don't care about my children; like I wouldn't be upset if they died."

"You are one of the only Olympians that care a lot about their children," Poseidon coughed, finding this situation really awkward and pretty ironic. He was actually being nice to his adversary!

"Why are you comforting me?" Athena turned her grey eyes to him in sudden curiosity. Exactly what he wanted to know too.

"Well, you know what they say… The enemy of my enemy is my… enemy…?" Poseidon furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, making the wisdom goddess chuckle.

"No, it's 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'. It mean's two people can work together to conquer the enemy they have in common."

"Yeah well, I really don't get that." Poseidon said.

Athena rolled her eyes. "I just explained it to you!"

"No, I mean… Look, you're my enemy and if there was someone who also didn't like you, I wouldn't side with them. There's no fun in sharing adversaries, ya know?"

"Well, in a messed up kind of way, I guess you're right." she grudgingly mumbled.

"Athena admitting I'm right? The world is becoming a messed up place…" Poseidon shook his head.

"And then our good heartfelt moment is interrupted by your idiotic comment," Athena stood up, dusted her clothes and began walking off towards the throne room.

"Hey, wait up!" Poseidon scrambled to his feet and ran after her, not wanting to be left behind.

"You know, I'm actually impressed you managed to find me. For once you used that tiny brain of yours." she stated without looking behind her.

Poseidon smiled. Good old Athena was back and snappy as ever.

* * *

"Anyone realise that today is August 30th and is like basically the last day of summer?" Percy looked around sadly like he was trying to memorize all the details.

All the demigods stared gloomily at each other. "Great, school is beginning soon,"

Annabeth gasped loudly. "We're in the past. Does this mean we'll miss school since time doesn't stop in the future?" She looked towards the Olympians in question. They just shrugged uncertainly. We'll since we're all here, reading, why don't we just hang out in New York, she suggested. Everyone agreed.

* * *

Hermes Point of View:

Hermes turned around the street corner, only to see Zeus with his arms flung around a woman, chatting animatedly with her. The women let loose a flirty giggle, causing Zeus to grin even wider.

"Zeus," Hermes didn't say 'father' because that'd probably embarrass his father or disgust the woman. "I think it's time to go now,"

The king of the gods gave Hermes a withering look. "Well, I must be going," he acquiesced.

"Oh, can I have your number?" the lady cocked her head to the side in a supposedly 'cute' manner.

"Can't," he put his hands up in surrender and smirked. "I live in… Mexico. Just came to New York for vacation,"

"Oh." Her face dropped in disappointment, but perked up a second later. Hermes couldn't help but think this woman was too perky and fake, not to mention that she wasn't exactly the brightest crayon in the box. "Well, bye mi amante," she giggled once more, and walked away, her hips swaying side to side. Did she actually even know how to speak Spanish? Probably not.

Zeus walked back to Hermes with a smile on his face like he was relieved she was gone.

"Mexico, really?" Hermes burst out laughing as they started their trek back to the designated meeting point.

"My mind just blanked out for a moment," he grumbled and kicked a rock in a child-like manner.

"So you chose Mexico… And not Greece." He couldn't stop laughing, no matter how much he tried. Soon enough, people started looking at him weirdly.

"Shut up," Zeus rolled his eyes. Finally, Hermes sobered up, and they walked in silence for about 3 minutes, until someone broke it.

"Don't you dare tell Hera 'bout this," the king of the gods threatened.

"It's okay, you're little secret is safe with me. I mean, without your fantastic womanizing skills—"

"I do like to think that I have all sorts of talents," Zeus smirked.

"—I—including half the Olympian council—wouldn't be here today." Hermes continued, looking at the ground and being careful as to not step on certain stones. "Heck, half the world probably wouldn't even be here today if not for you."

"I don't know whether that was a compliment or an insult."

"There you are!" Apollo shouted, over by the fountain all the gods and goddesses was waiting at. It was a secluded area that seemed quite forgotten and away from the rest of New York, yet faint sounds of children laughing and shoes walking quickly through the streets, ignoring the world around them as they carried on their daily routes to work. Poseidon was lying down playing with the fountain while Athena was reading a book. Many others were chatting lively with each other on benches or comparing weapons (Ares). "Thought you got lost or something,"

Hermes guessed that Apollo forgot he was the god of travellers so it just wasn't possible for him to get lost under any circumstance.

"I don't get lost, I am king of the gods!" Zeus smirked proudly, causing everyone to simultaneously roll their eyes in annoyance. They've heard it so many times before that it just sounded like 'blah-blah-blah' to them.

"Zeus, just be grateful Hera has my iPhone, or else she would've caught you red-handed." Hermes looked at the Queen of the gods, who was shouting something about shooting disgraceful children on an app (suitable for adults only). Least to say, most of the Olympian parents wondered if they should fear for their children's safety.

"Yes well, thank you," Zeus muttered briefly, then stalked over to the fountain in a pompous manner that all 'kings' thought they had the right to have.

"Where are the kids? They're supposed to be back soon." Athena mumbled loudly, though she seemed to be really preoccupied with her reading of Homer's The Odyssey for the 1000th time (actually, the Olympians lost count many centuries ago).

And right on cue, Connor and Travis appeared at the entrance, while Annabeth and Thalia loudly entered through the opposite passageway. They all seemed to be breathing heavily, and that said a lot considering they trained during the summer and battled monsters daily.

"Did you see Percy's face as he was running towards us?" Annabeth held her stomach in laughter.

"Yeah, it looked like he was going to pee his pants from the sight of a mere 8 year old." Thalia grinned. "A scary smart eight year old."

The adults stared at the demigods in curiosity, wondering what they were talking about.

"Speaking of which, where's Percy?" Poseidon stopped lying down beside the fountain and looked at the children seriously.

"And Nico." Hades said

"They'll be here—" suddenly loud laughter could be heard echoing down the narrow passageway that led to the secluded fountain area. "—soon." Connor finished and smirked.

Noisy shoes pounded against the cobblestone ground. "Jeez, someone's getting pretty heavy," a guy's voice—Percy they presumed—laughed.

"Seaweed Brain!" there was a loud smack and a fake 'ow'. Hades looked confused, while Poseidon shrugged.

"Just kidding, Death Breath You are so perfect and beautiful the way you are, please don't ever stop being yourself." Everyone could practically imagine the loving look that Percy gave Nico, making Aphrodite tear up silently. The love goddess just couldn't help it; love was just so powerful in so many ways. Poseidon gave a proud 'I-told-you-so' look to Hades, who rolled his eyes in response.

Both teens entered with Percy carrying Nico bridal-style. He slowly and reluctantly put him down to see everyone staring at the couple with mixed emotions. "Umhmmm… yes?" he blushed bright red as did Nico. Hermes thought the couple would never stop getting harassed by the demigods about their relationship.

"Oh, nothing!" Travis quickly said, and everyone scurried to pretend to do something. "Ooh, I think I see a magical gold coin at the bottom!" Apollo stuffed his head in a soft-woven basket just to get away from the awkwardness of it all. Artemis couldn't help but smile at his littlebrother's silliness and his unwillingness to withstand awkward silences.

Hermes rolled his eyes. Sometimes he didn't understand why or how his family was so messed up, dramatic and weird—however, that was what made life so interesting for an immortal and Hermes wouldn't have given that chaos up for anything in the world—except maybe donuts (just kidding).

"Sooo, where shall we go next?" Percy tactfully changed subjects.

Apollo jumped up excitedly. "I have the perfect idea." his bright blue eyes sparkled in happiness and he smiled a large smile.

* * *

15 minutes ago (backwards) – Percy's Point of View

Both Connor and Travis sat cross-legged on the sidewalk watching the kids on the other side of the street in a mesmerizing manner. It was like the kids were the most interesting thing on the planet.

"Just do it, kid." Nico sighed.

"Dude, I'm older!" Percy told him indignantly.

"GUYS!" Thalia screamed so everyone would shut up. Then she said, "Percy, go." and shoved a light dirt-brown shirt into his hands while pushing him towards the group of kids standing idly on the sidewalk across from them.

"Cousins are evil." Percy muttered under his breath before walking towards the kids with fake confidence. "Hey!" he waved.

There was one girl and three guys, two of the boys looking very similar to each other. The similar-looking kids looked behind their backs but when there wasn't anyone else on the streets, they turned to look at the black-haired guy curiously. "Hey…"

Percy could see their hands fingering either their pockets or their wrists; probably where their weapons were. The son of the sea god smirked. Oh, it was nice to see people as paranoid as him sometimes, though he did feel bad that lots of kids had to live the life he did (maybe not as extreme though).

"Do we know you…?" the leader stepped forward while subtly pushing back his friends protectively. He had blond hair, bright blue eyes and stood at about 5'4, contrary to the 6'1 and streak of grey hair Percy was used to seeing.

The girl didn't look too happy about her friend pushing her back. In fact, she looked really annoyed (like a touch-me-again-and-you-will-be-chopped-in-half kind of annoyed).

"Well ah…" Percy silently cursed himself. He was never very good at lying. "I'm not sure if you know me, but I definitely know you…" he looked down at his feet for a moment and composed himself. It was hard enough seeing him, but talking to him was a whole other level of intensity. "Anyway, could you sign this t-shirt for me?" he held up the brown shirt and tried to smile genuinely.

The twin-like guys looked at each other for a moment, probably debating whether Percy was dangerous or not.

"Why?" the leader asked suspiciously.

Percy racked his brain for a good excuse. "Oh, well my friends dared me to ask you to sign this shirt."

"But—"

"Just shut up and sign the damn thing!" The girl screamed at the leader frustratedly. Percy flinched; he never liked being on the receiving end of her and felt sorry for the guy.

"Fine." the guy gritted out. He took the black sharpie marker and the brown shirt and signed it, though not before pausing to stare at the distinct shoe-with-wings symbol etched onto the shirt. Meanwhile, his companions stared at Percy unblinkingly as if they expected him to turn into a monster at any moment.

"Oh also, I'm doing this dumb survey thing for my school, do you mind writing down the one thing you'd say to your dad if you could?" Percy added at the last moment. It wasn't part of Annabeth's plan, but it sure was part of his. Hopefully no one would notice the fact that he slipped up because he wasn't supposed to know that the boy didn't have a father. "Might as well write it on the shirt too 'cause I don't have paper with me."

The leader rolled his eyes irritatedly and scribbled down something more before handing it back to Percy, who sighed in relief. Finally he could get out of here. Suddenly, he was struck with a thought that made him panic; where was Ann—

"Luke! I got it, let's go." someone called from down the street.

"Nice of you to include us too," the girl muttered while rolling her eyes.

Everyone turned around, and Percy saw who it was. Quite frankly, he should've known that this was going to happen considering his past of bad luck. Her blonde ponytail bobbed up and down as she ran down the street towards them and when she smiled at Luke, her eyes sparkled in happiness. She wore the classic bright orange and easily identifiable Camp Half-Blood shirt though it was covered with a light blue sweater.

"Hey Clarisse, Connor, Travis and—" she stopped short and looked at Percy with curiosity, remembrance and shock. "YOU!"

"Hi." The son of the sea smiled weakly because quite frankly, he didn't know what to do. This wasn't supposed to happen; he wasn't supposed to meet her. The present-Annabeth is going to kill him for screwing up her more-than-awesome plan (as she calls it).

"You, you're from before, back at camp. Are you a demigod? Who are you?"

"Uh—" he was cut off.

"How do you know me? How do you know my friends? Answer now!" the girl demanded as the rest of her companions looked at her weirdly. She talked at such incredible speeds, Percy felt like he wouldn't even be able to answer her.

"Um well…" he finally got a chance to say. "Yes, I'm back from camp, maybe I'm a demigod, or maybe I'm just a clear-sighted mortal," he shrugged and smirked, knowing it would irk her to Hades. "I'm a person, and I know you guys because I'm just so cool like that."

The girl, past-Annabeth looked like she was going to rip her hair out in frustration. It was the exact facial expression the present-Annabeth would always have with him. She took a hold of his shirt collar menacingly. "Answer my questions seriously, and what are you doing here?"

"Oh you know, just strolling around. Here you go, Luke." Percy took a thin envelope out of his pocket and tossed it to him. "Okay, gotta go bye!" he quickly smiled, slipped out of her grip and ran as fast as he could away from what he called the 'past'.

Thump. Thump. Thump. It was the sound of her shoes hitting the pavement. He should've known that girl was going to chase after him; she was just so damn curious. As soon as he caught his friends' eyes, he immediately gestured them to run. It probably wasn't a very good idea to let the past-Annabeth see them—though that's just his thoughts on this confusing I'm-coming-back-in-time-to-change-the-future predicament.

Travis and Connor immediately stopped looking at themselves and ran one way while Annabeth and Thalia sprinted the other way. Nico turned the corner of the street, and he automatically knew he would wait there secretly until he caught up with him.

"Stop running!" the mini daughter of Athena shouted from behind him. He scoffed; she must've been very desperate if she even thought of saying that.

Luke watched his friends chase the mysterious black-haired boy down the street and stared in curiosity. He looked at the slightly creased envelope in his hands. For some reason, he was actually nervous to open it, probably because of the fact that a random kid—quite crazy, he might add—gave it to him out of the blue. His eyes hungrily scanned the letter, only to find exactly 10 words written. He didn't realise how eagerly he was looking forward to this… random letter and he certainly didn't understand why he cared as much as he did. In sloppy blue handwriting (as if the letter was written on a whim), the words read:

Dear Luke,

He cares more than you know, trust me.

Forever in my mind and heart, a friend.

He lowered the letter and stared off into the distance more confused than ever and by only 10 words nonetheless. Obviously, this 'friend' knew about his father and their problem, meaning he was a demigod. What confused Luke the most though was whether Hermes really did love him or not. Sure, he was nice, and seemed like he cared and all, but to Luke, if his dad really cared about him, he would've done something to help his mom and him when they needed it. Suddenly, Luke really really hoped Annabeth caught this guy.

"Percy, I hate how you always make me come up plans, that's Annabeth's job."

"Yeah but they're usually pretty good plans?" Percy smiled as he ran alongside his boyfriend.

"You're such a Seaweed Brain!" Nico groaned.

"Hey, that's not my past self that's chasing us right now." he rolled his eyes in response.

"I guess everyone was right when they said she was too curious," Nico sighed.

"Nah, Annabeth being curious is just a fact of life and I'm—OUCH!" Percy tripped over a mildly-not-so-big rock and fell flat on the concrete sidewalk. "If I didn't have the curse of Achilles, that fall would've been really painful." His voice was partially muffled from the ground.

"Hurry, get up Seaweed Brain!" Nico whispered loudly, looking at the little blonde girl that was getting closer by the second.

He had no choice but to drag him by the arm. "THIS IS CLEARLY NOT WORKING." was Percy's response. He was basically being dragged along the rough sidewalk.

"Get your ass up and let's go!" Nico had the urge to facepalm. Okay, so they weren't being chased by Medusa (though Annabeth's past self was just as scary according to Percy), but this didn't give that silly old Seaweed Brain a reason to mope around when trying to escape.

"LEAVE ME BE, SAVE YOURSELF DEATH BREATH!" Percy dramatically flopped down onto the floor as Nico tried to lift him up. "DON'T FORGET ME!"

"Oh my gods, we are so going to die?" Nico muttered before glancing at Annabeth's past-self who was approaching at a dangerously fast pace. "PERSEUS JACKSON, IF YOU DON'T STOP BEING DRAMATIC THIS INSTANT, YOU WILL REGRET IT."

Percy thought about it; all the times he did regret not listening to Nico. That one day he insisted on having an ice cream fight, and ended up with a splitting brain-freeze and a whole month on clean-up duty; the times he refused to wake up and found salad in his pillowcase the next day. He shuddered. Faster than Nico could blink, he jumped on his feet, picked his boyfriend up bridal style, and ran for his life.

"PERSEUS JACKSON!" this time, he was laughing a beautiful and enchanting laugh. It almost made Percy stop in his tracks because it was so wonderful—to him at least.

"I love you." he muttered, but Nico probably didn't hear him over the howling winds and his magical bubbly laughter. That was okay though, because there was this mutual understanding between the two of them; they didn't always need to say that they loved each other because it was subtly shown through their miniscule actions for each other. Soon, he joined in laughing because these were the times that he always wanted to remember—the great and unfathomable moments that was natural, priceless and perfect in its own simple way.

They eventually lost the past Annabeth soon after, then arrived where, the gods, Thalia, Annabeth, Connor, Travis were waiting. After Nico and Percy were embarrassed enough they all went back to Olympus to start on the next book. They would have to do Apollo's plan later.


End file.
